Summary
"In Canada, the non-medical use of prescription drugs, specifically prescription opioids (POs) and benzodiazepines (BDs), have gathered attention in recent years. Although nation-wide epidemiological data are currently sparse, provincial data and data from the US indicate an area of growing concern. The following report explores the trends of non-medical use of prescription opioids (NMUPOs) and benzodiazepines (NMUBDs), the health and societal implications of non-medical use and some of the criminal justice policy issues in Canada."--Page i.
Contents
1. Methodology -- 2. Epidemiology of the non-medical use of prescription drugs In canada -- 2.1. Prevalence of non-medical use of prescription opioids (NMUPO) -- 2.2. Prevalence of non-medical use of benzodiazepines (NMUBD) -- 3. Who is using prescription drugs non-medically (e.g., gender, age, and socioeconomic differences)? -- 3.1. Who is using prescription opioids non-medically? -- 3.2. Who is using benzodiazepines non-medically? -- 4. How and under what circumstances are individuals obtaining prescription drugs for non-medical use? Are there links to organized crime or other criminal networks? -- 4.1. Introduction -- 4.2. How are prescription opioids obtained? -- 4.3. How are benzodiazepines obtained? -- 5. What are the health implications for those who use prescription drugs non-medically (e.g., dependence, other illicit drug use, co-morbidity, treatment utilization)? -- 5.1. NMUPO health risks --
5.2. NMUBD health risks --
6. What are the societal implications of the increase in non-medical use of prescription drugs? --
6.1. Introduction --
6.2. Health --
6.3. Crime --
7. What are the criminal justice policy issues for addressing the non-medical use of prescription drugs? --
8. Issues not addressed/conclusions.