OSDUS Press Conference November 18, 2003 - Speaking Notes: Dr. Shitij Kapur

Good morning and thank you for coming. My name is Dr. Shitij Kapur, Vice President of Research at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health. This week is Drug Awareness Week and we have invited you here today to share the results of the 2003 Ontario Student Drug Use Survey - otherwise known as OSDUS.

The OSDUS survey has been around for a long time - 26 years in fact. And because there is no on-going national student survey on alcohol and drug use in Canada, OSDUS has become a key source of providing science-based information on the changing character of adolescent drug use in Canada.

OSDUS has provided many firsts - it has provided some of the first Canadian estimates of specific drug use patterns among students. For example; Crack cocaine use in 1987, Ecstasy use in 1991, and Rave attendance in 1995.

As a Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) and World Health Organization (WHO) Collaborating Centre, CAMH is on the cutting edge of research. OSDUS is frequently used by international organizations, such as the United Nations, when preparing country profiles and overviews. Moreover, OSDUS has also become a model for use in other countries that are now developing their own national and regional surveys.

Given the scope of the work at CAMH, our researchers are directly involved in the development of tools and other resource materials, ensuring that their research is translated into action. The essential knowledge that we gain from the research we will be presenting you today, will eventually be transferred to evidence-based practices and the community at large, which we hope will lead to an improved treatment and health promotion outcomes.

Thank you again for being with us today. I would now like to introduce Dr. Edward Adlaf: lead researcher on the OSDUS Survey. He will provide you with an overview of the key findings. We will open the floor to questions after we have heard from both of our speakers today.