Many Canadians report that they have used illicit drugs. At some point in their lives, 24% of Canadians have used one or more of the following illegal drugs: cannabis, cocaine. LSD, speed/amphetamines, heroin. More males than females report having used these drugs (30% versus 18%).
Cannabis (marijuana/hashish): Cannabis is the most widely used illegal drug in Canada. Just over 23% of Canadians report having used cannabis at some point in their life. Current use is around 7.5% as compared to 6.5% in 1989. Twice as many males (10%) as females (5%) report use in the past 12 months.
Cocaine: The percentage of Canadians reporting that they have ever used cocaine or crack-cocaine is just under 4%, which is only slightly different from the 1989 survey (3.5%). The number of current users (in the past 12 months) has dropped to 0.7% of the population (from 1.4% in 1989).
LSD, Amphetamines (Speed) and Heroin: The percentage of Canadians reporting use of one or more of these drugs in the past 12 months is just over 1%, an increase from 0.4% in 1989. More males (1.5%) than females (0.7%) use these drugs. The proportion of Canadians who have used these drugs at least once in their lives has risen to 6% in 1994, from 4% in 1989.
Overall. illicit drug use increased substantially across the country from 1993 to 1994. Use of cannabis increased from 4.2% to 7.4%, cocaine increased from 0.3 % to 0.7% and use of LSD, speed or heroin increased from 0.3% in 1993 to just over 1% in 1994. There are no recent national data to allow us to see whether this trend has continued.