OSDUS Press Conference, November 18, 2003 - Speaking Notes: Peter Coleridge

morning everyone, and thank you for being here. The needs of youth are a priority for CAMH and we rely heavily on the results of OSDUS to guide our work.

Over the past five years, CAMH has developed resources for youth that are second-to-none. Our resources are firmly based on years of research that examine the health, well-being and behaviour of children and youth.

CAMH provides a variety of treatment, health promotion, research and education services, many of which are related to adolescents. A list of some of these initiatives has been included in your folders.

Not only do today's OSDUS results help us understand the trends of adolescent drug use, but these results are also an essential tool for our key partners like the educational system and other service providers in planning their programs for youth.

For example, we are working with parents and schools to develop an integrated set of tools and training programs, to reach out to a diverse range of children and youth. We are also working with addiction service providers across Ontario to help young people make more appropriate choices.

Promoting healthy choices is a critical role for us - one we are taking very seriously. CAMH is encouraged by some of today's OSDUS results. The results indicate some positive changes in patterns of drug use among Ontario's youth. However, as is the case with most surveys, there are some areas for concern. Clearly, alcohol and binge drinking continues to be a problem. We are particularly concerned that youth still do not recognize that binge drinking is a hazardous and serious threat to their health.

Today's OSDUS report also confirms the findings of a recent Statistics Canada study - which indicates that youth are not getting the help they need. CAMH has recognized this as an issue, and has initiated a study to find out what the barriers to treatment are for youth. We expect the results of that study to be available sometime in the New Year.

As a leading health and research facility, we know that there is still a lot of work to be done with respect to alcohol and drug use among youth and children's mental health. The OSDUS survey is also the basis for a secondary report called the The Mental Health and Well-Being of Ontario Students, which describes health and mental health indicators among Ontario students between 1991 and 2003. This mental health report will be released in the spring.

In the room with us today, are many CAMH experts that can address some of your questions about youth and substance use. I would like to introduce:
Ø Dr. Bruce Ballon, an expert in the treatment of youth addiction who can talk about what's keeping youth from getting the help they need
Ø Dr. Roberta Ferrence from the Ontario Tobacco Research Unit, who can speak about the effectiveness of anti-smoking campaigns.
Ø Andrea Stevens Lavigne, who has knowledge in the area of effective alcohol prevention strategies and
Ø Dr. David Wolfe, who is the RBC Investments Chair in Children's Mental Health and Development Psychopathology at CAMH. He can talk about how parents can build healthy relationships with their teens to prevent harmful behaviour.

Finally, we are pleased to also be launching our updated website www.camh.net today. We have improved the design of our website in an effort to make public education campaigns, drug education curriculums and effective prevention programs more accessible to families, students, professionals and the general public. You see a preview of our new design behind me. The full OSDUS report, and a complete list of youth programs is also available at this web address.

I would like to end by saying that while OSDUS cannot identify causes for increases and decreases in use, the survey does identify trends over time, which is instrumental in alerting us to issues that need careful examination. I would like to once again thank you for your participation here today and we have time for questions.