Substance Use by Canadian Youth - A National Survey of Canadians' Use of Alcohol and Other Drugs - Canadian Addiction Survey (CAS)

Chapter 5: Other Drug Use and Harms (con't)

Table 5.10: Percentage reporting harms from one's own drug use, lifetime excluding cannabis,¹ Canada, aged 15-24, 2004

Types of harm	Total population 15+ N = 2,157  % yes	Adults aged 25+ N = 1,676  % yes	Youth aged 15-24			18-19 N = 167  % yes	20-24 N = 314  % yes
Drug use had a harmful effect on your...			Total N = 481  % yes	Female N = 218  % yes	Male N = 263  % yes
1. Friendships and social life	22.3 [19.4-25.5]	21.1 [17.8-24.8]	26.4 [20.5-33.4]	24.1 [16.0-34.6]	28.1 [20.1-37.9]	23.7 [14.6-36.0]	28.1 [20.8-36.9]
2. Physical health	30.3 [27.1-33.8]	27.6 [23.9-31.5]	39.9** [32.9-47.4]	39.8 [29.5-51.0]	40.1 [30.8-50.1]	41.2 [29.4-54.2]	39.1 [30.8-48.2]
3. Home life or marriage	18.9 [16.2-22.0]	17.5 [14.5-21.0]	24.1 [18.1-31.2]	19.7 [12.1-30.4]	27.3 [19.1-37.3]	20.4 [11.7-33.0]	26.4 [19.0-35.5]
4. Work, studies or employment opportunities	18.9 [16.2-22.0]	16.8 [13.9-20.3]	26.2** [20.1-33.4]	24.6 [16.3-35.2]	27.4 [19.2-37.6]	28.6 [18.1-42.2]	24.7 [17.9-33.2]
5. Financial position	19.6 [16.9-22.6]	17.6 [14.6-21.0]	26.5* [20.5-33.4]	22.6 [15.0-32.6]	29.3 [21.0-39.2]	29.2 [18.8-42.3]	24.8 [18.1-32.9]
6. Legal problems	10.0 [7.9-12.5]	9.8 [7.4-12.8]	10.9 [6.9-16.9]	s	16.0 [9.6-25.5]	s	10.0 [5.9-16.2]
7. Housing	4.4 [3.0-6.3]	4.5 [3.0-6.6]	s	s	s	s	s
8. Learning	12.0 [9.8-14.6]	10.1 [7.8-13.0]	18.5** [13.3-25.1]	18.6 [11.6-28.6]	18.4 [11.6-27.8]	23.0 [13.9-35.7]	15.6 [10.1-23.4]
One or more types of harm	45.7 [42.1-49.4]	41.7 [37.6-46.0]	59.5** [52.1-66.6]	60.3 [49.8-70.0]	59.0 [48.7-68.5]	63.3 [50.6-74.5]	57.2 [48.1-65.8]

Notes: s = estimate suppressed due to high sampling variability;
*p < 0.05; **p < 0.01 = significant difference between youth aged 15-24 and adults aged 25+; between males and females; between youth aged 15-19 and those 20-24.
1. Lifetime harm: Percentages are of current and former drug users (respondents reporting lifetime use of any of the following 5 drugs; cocaine, speed, hallucinogens, ecstasy, heroin).

Table 5.11: Percentage who experienced at least one problem versus those who did not, lifetime users excluding cannabis,¹ aged 15-24, Canada, 2004

	N	%	[95% CI]	OR without substance use variables
Total	481	59.5	[52.1-66.6]
Sex
Male	263	59.0	[48.7-68.5]	0.989
Female [comparison group]	218	60.3	[49.8-70.0]	--
Age [comparison group is previous]
15-17	56	67.2	[46.7-82.8]	--
18-19	111	61.8	[45.4-75.8]	0.797
20-24	314	57.2	[47.8-66.0]	0.872
Region [comparison group is Canada]
Atlantic	91	55.7	[44.1-66.7]	0.822
Quebec	53	56.8	[43.3-69.5]	0.917
Ontario	27	s	s	s
Prairie	191	59.5	[52.2-66.4]	1.052
British Columbia	119	59.3	[50.2-67.8]	0.988
Household Location
Rural [comparison group]	64	62.2	[41.8-79.1]	--
Non-rural	417	59.2	[51.2-66.7]	0.957
Income Adequacy
Lowest [comparison group]	77	59.4	[41.7-74.9]	--
Middle	173	64.0	[51.8-74.5]	1.206
Highest	91	47.8	[31.5-64.6]	0.622
Not stated	140	63.3	[50.3-74.6]	1.076

Notes: CI = confidence interval;
OR = adjusted for all variables in the table;
s = estimate suppressed due to high sampling variability or cell size less than 30;
*p < 0.05; **p < 0.01.
¹ Lifetime harm: Percentages are of current and former drug users (respondents reporting lifetime use of any of the following 5 drugs: cocaine, speed, hallucinogens, ecstasy, heroin).