Comparing the Perceived Serious and Actual Costs of Substance Abuse in Canada

This paper documents and analyzes the divergence between the perceived seriousness and actual social costs associated with various substances in Canada using public opinion data collected from the Canadian Addiction Survey (CAS) in 2004 (Racine et al., in press), and a 2006 study estimating the social costs of various substances in 2002 (Rehm et al., 2006). The first section presents background information on the psychological, institutional and socio-cultural factors that can lead to either the amplification or attenuation of perceptions of risk in society. The next two sections present data on perceived seriousness and the social costs of substance abuse for comparison. The last section develops a discussion of the implications of this analysis for substance abuse policy in Canada.