SNUD Committee Report

CHAIR’S FOREWORD

For too long Canadians have ignored the issue of substance use and its impact on our community. Over the past 18 months members of this special committee have been seized with this issue.

On May 17, 2001, the House of Commons created the Special Committee on Non-Medical Use of Drugs based on a motion brought forward by Randy White, M.P. (Langley—Abbottsford) and gave it a very broad mandate to study “the factors underlying or relating to the non-medical use of drugs in Canada” and to bring forward recommendations aimed at reducing “the dimensions of the problem involved in such use.”

A study of this complexity can only be completed with the collaboration of a great many capable, dedicated and concerned Canadians. These individuals and organizations shared with us their passion, experience and expertise in the field of addictions and dependencies with legal and illegal drugs. On behalf of the members of the Special Committee, thank you to all of you who appeared before us or who provided us with your written submissions. Your contributions provided us with a better understanding of the depth and breadth of the problems faced by many Canadians on a daily basis and the impact on Canada’s economy, our social safety network and most importantly on our families and communities.

To all those individuals who shared their personal struggles with us and allowed us to visit them in treatment centres, thank you. By opening up to total strangers and sharing your experiences, you helped us immeasurably. Each of us wishes you the very best on your journey.

A special note of thanks to our wonderful team. This special committee was blessed with excellence and dedication. The research team, composed of Marilyn Pilon and Chantal Collin, contributed their considerable expertise and writing skills to draft this report. It was no easy feat and your countless hours and weekends were very much appreciated. Congratulations to our committee clerk, Carol Chafe, your efficiency in ensuring that our work was conducted in a productive manner despite short and evolving time lines and competing schedules was remarkable. We are very grateful for the assistance and support provided by the Committee’s Administrative Officer, Lise Tierney and Administrative Assistant, Melissa Mastroguiseppe. Thank you. All along, this special committee benefited from the invaluable assistance of the interpretation team, the editors, translators, console operators and others. We were under great stress, their dedication and hard work was much appreciated. The staff of the Publications Service, without whom this report would not have been possible, is very much appreciated as well.

Finally, I would like to thank my colleagues, the members of this special committee from all parties who worked so diligently on this report while attending to the work of other important committees as well as their parliamentary responsibilities. This committee was like no other. There were many obstacles in our path but we hurdled them, with humour and goodwill. This report reflects that team effort and, by and large, our non-partisan approach to the difficult issues we encountered.

We all look forward to the Government’s action in response to this report. For the sake of all Canadians urgent and continued action is needed now.

Paddy Torsney, M.P.
Chair