Substance Abuse and Youth in School Coalition
The Project
The project began as a partnership including the four Ottawa School
Boards and OCRI to explore the feasibility of expanding this group
to develop a community-based coalition to improve support for drug
and/or alcohol dependent youth (ages 12-19 years) in Ottawa schools.
With additional support from the United Way and the Community Foundation
of Ottawa, the project has also engaged local addiction treatment
agencies, and we are in the process of forming the Substance Abuse
and Youth in School Coalition. The Coalition is working collaboratively
with the City of Ottawa’s Integrated Drug and Addictions Strategy.
Objective
The objective of the Substance Abuse and Youth in School Coalition
is to build the capacity of our community to work together to develop,
resource and implement comprehensive treatment and prevention programs
for our drug and/or alcohol dependent students. It brings together
education and addiction treatment professionals to enhance communication
in common areas of work, present a united approach to fundraising
and to better understand how to work together effectively.
The Need
The most recent survey of drug use among Ontario students (Grade
7 – 12) released in 2005 by the Canadian Centre for Addiction
and Mental Health revealed that the levels of drug and alcohol use
among students remains a major concern despite the encouraging drop
in tobacco use. About 16% or the equivalent of 8,500 Ottawa students
reported symptoms of a drug use problem. Almost a quarter of students
reported binge drinking at least once during the four weeks prior
to the survey, ranging from 3% of 7th graders to 42% of 12th graders.
Similar proportions of students reported using cannabis in the past
12 months. About 7% of students report using alcohol, tobacco, cannabis,
and at least one other drug in the past year. Substance abuse puts
students’ education and long term well-being at risk –
we are coming together as a community to address these challenges.
In Ottawa, recent stakeholder and public consultations indicate
that treatment and prevention/public education are the two priority
issues requiring attention.
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