Canadian youth are increasingly mixing recreational drugs with over-the-counter medication being the second most common behind alcohol and ahead of cannabis, according to new data from Health Canada.
The Earnscliffe Strategy Group compiled research for Health Canada to survey the younger populations’ relationship with substance abuse which it found to be on the rise.
Polysubstance use refers to taking multiple different substances simultaneously or taken together over a short period of time.
It’s also a major contributing factor in fatal overdoses.
Health Canada commissioned the research to “better understand the relationship between the prevalence of polysubstance use” and its relation to “mental health issues and/or emotional challenges, including the level of awareness and knowledge of these issues, as well as the attitudes, perceptions, and behaviours of Canadians.”
Their research revealed that over 80% of respondents have consumed at least one substance in the past 12 months, across all subgroups.
“With the exception of Canadians aged 13 to 17 years, who are less likely to have taken at least one substance (52%). The most commonly used substances overall are alcohol (70%), over-the-counter (OTC) medication (52%), and cannabis (31%).,” reads the report.
Canadians aged 18-24 are the cohort most likely to engage in polysubstance use, with 56% responding that they have combined at least one pair of substances in the past year.
Youth aged 13-17 are least likely to report polysubstance use, with only 11% responding to having done so in the past year.
Unsurprisingly, respondents’ mental health played a role in the likelihood of polysubstance use, with 68% of those who’d been previously diagnosed with a mental health condition engaging, compared to 45% of those who did without a diagnosis.
“The highest prevalence of polysubstance use by self-identified mental health conditions are found among those who report having a personality disorder (75%); with a bipolar disorder (70%); and with depression (73%),” reads the report.
Respondents who feel they are financially struggling or just staying afloat financially were more likely on average to have experimented with a variety of substances in the past 12 months, compared to those who reported having no financial commitments.
Of those who were engaging in polysubstance use, 51% said that they had combined three or more substances within 24 hours, including nicotine.
“The most common circumstances in which they consumed these substances were when at home (66%), when around friends (58%), and when around family (43%),” reads the report.
Asked whether they had experienced any side effects from substance use, 46% of respondents engaging in polysubstance use selected “nothing specific.”
“The most common side-effects they noted experiencing were feeling unwell after using, including nausea, headaches, or being tired (26%); being unable to stop or reduce the frequency of usage (14%); and having to lie or feeling guilty about the amount used or frequency (14%),” reads the report.
When asked if they were experiencing problems with their daily life, such as work or school in the last 30 days, half of those aged 18-24 answered yes.
“Across all the negative feelings listed, those aged 18-24 were the most likely to say that they experienced these most or all of the time. For every feeling, this was statistically significant when compared to those over the age of 25 and, for all of them except crying and feeling aggressive, it was significant relative to those aged 13-17,” it said.
Anxiety was the most common self-reported mental illness at 17%, followed by depression at 16% and finally attention deficit hyperactivity disorder at 9%.
The research group surveyed 10,012 respondents living in Canada in both French and English over the age of 13 between March and April of this year.