Drug Addiction in Victoria, British Columbia

There is a huge alcohol and drug addiction problem all over North America. The problems exist in just about every city and town in the United States and Canada. Despite all the efforts and money targeting the problem through treatment and education the problem appears to be slowly growing. Research and studies are just now showing the evidence that for all our persistence and optimism educating our youth about the dangers of drugs and alcohol really isn’t working. At least the way we are teaching it. Even now there are people scrambling to find a different way to get the message across. This has become a huge problem in Victoria, even to the point they are considering some very radical programs to help get the drug addiction situation under control.

As far alcohol consumption goes there seems to be a direct correlation between alcohol use and deaths and the number of private liquor stores that have now been legalized. The study shows that alcohol related deaths increase approximately 3.25% for each 20% increase in the liquor store density. This is to say that every liquor store per 1,000 people has a direct correlation with the amount of alcohol related deaths.  Now taking into consideration the alcohol consumption that is already a major problem everywhere in the province this only serves to increase things. Many people feel that this can be attributed to the amount of government run liquor stores shutting down and the number of private liquor stores increasing. There is also the fact that the private liquor stores can often have greater availability, greater selection and lower prices.

Alcohol abuse is now a major problem in Victoria, not only with the adult public, but with the underage teenagers as well. More than half of all high school students claim to drink alcohol, a good 35% of them heavily on a regular basis. Drug addiction is also a significant problem in Victoria and should be dealt with rapidly before it increases even more.