Standing Committee on Health

Comité permanent de la santé

For immediate release

Ottawa, June 10, 2019 -

Bill Casey, Chair of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Health, presented the Committee’s 26^th report today entitled, Impacts of Methamphetamine Abuse in Canada.

In presenting the report in the House, Mr. Casey explained that the study was eye-opening for all members of the Committee as they travelled across the country to see first-hand the impacts of methamphetamine use in different communities. Mr. Casey said “that this report gets to the heart of the methamphetamine crisis both in the western provinces and across the country more generally. I thank all of our witnesses – both in Ottawa and on our study’s travel – for their valuable input as well as for sharing your stories with us.”

Drawing on witness testimony and observations from a cross-country fact-finding mission, the Committee’s report examines the impacts of the rise of problematic methamphetamine use in Canada. In meeting with frontline health care service providers, law enforcement agencies, government officials and members of Indigenous organizations, peer support workers and individuals with lived experience of methamphetamine use, the Committee learned that problematic use of this drug arises from a complex set of interwoven factors, including adverse childhood experiences, trauma, untreated mental health conditions, poverty and homelessness.

These stakeholders also explained that methamphetamine poses a unique set of challenges because of its low cost, long-lasting effects, high addiction potential, and the psychic instability it can cause among some users, both in the short and long term.

In all parts of the country, the Committee heard loud and clear that there are not enough treatment services available for individuals seeking help for problematic use of the drug. Consequently, they end up in overwhelmed emergency departments or in police holding cells.

The Committee believes that this situation is unacceptable. Problematic substance use and addiction is a complex health condition that requires a better and more comprehensive response from all levels of government, health care providers and society as a whole.

The Committee makes 23 recommendations that provide guidance on how the Government of Canada, in collaboration with the provinces and territories, could move forward to address the harms posed by methamphetamine use. The recommendations focus on such areas as:

• increasing public education and awareness;
• building resilience in families and communities;
• enhancing access to harm reduction measures;
• investing in treatment and recovery services; housing and social supports and drug treatment courts; and
• re-evaluating the criminalization of simple possession of illicit psychoactive substances.