Prevalence and Consequences of Nonmedical Use of Drugs among Canadian Forces Personnel: 1982

Abstract

A single-stage systematic probability sample survey on nonmedical use of drugs was conducted among Canadian Forces (CF) personnel (n = 6,118) in 1982. Overall, 14% of CF personnel reported cannabis use and 4% reported multiple drug use within the 12 months preceding the survey. Prevalence rates are presented for nine classifications of drugs. Higher use rates are linearly and inversely related to age of CF member. Somewhat lower positive correlations are found between annual use of cannabis and never having married, having completed secondary or vocational school, French mother tongue, and being reared in central Canada. For military service correlates, higher use is reported with each lower rank among members serving overseas or in Quebec. For multiple drug use, two principal correlates are younger age and never having married or currently not married. All drug use is positively correlated with consumption of alcohol. Drug use correlates highly with the occurrence of physical symptoms, social disruption, and deterioration of work performance, with markedly higher rates of these adverse effects among multiple users. In comparison with the United States military population in 1980, CF members indicate considerably lower nonmedical drug usage in every category. CF rates are generally comparable to those among Canadian civilians of similar age groups.