Stats back Licia

Licia Corbella is entitled to her opinion about Corey Monteith’s tragic but selfinduced death, and as a former Vancouver resident, she probably knows a bit more than many who are down on her statements. Her statements in general are supported by facts and stats.

StatsCan supports Corbella’s position: http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/85-002-x/2009002/article/10847-eng.htm: “Compared to other types of drug offences, those involving heroin are relatively low. According to the RCMP, heroin is one of the least-used illicit drugs in Canada (RCMP, 2007). In 2007, fewer than one per cent of drug-related offences involved heroin, a proportion that has remained fairly constant over the years. Most heroin offences are concentrated in large urban areas, particularly Vancouver.”

British Columbia has consistently had a relatively high rate of policereported drug offences. Regardless of the type of drug or offence, the rates of drug crime in B.C. have been among the highest in Canada for 30 years. In 2007, the total drug crime rate in this province (654 incidents per 100,000 population) was more than double the rate in Saskatchewan, the next highest province (table 6, table 7 and chart 3).

Stats Can says: “In accordance with the province as a whole, relatively high rates of drug offences are found in the census metropolitan areas (CMA) of Vancouver, Victoria and Abbotsford (table 8, table 9 and chart 4).”

Michelle Stirling, Calgary