Accurate, timely and multifaceted information on the nature, extent and impacts of substance use and gambling is essential to understanding addiction. It is also a prerequisite to the development of effective policies and programs. Population surveys are valuable in determining the size of the using population, but are limited in their ability to measure abuse. Social and health indicators such as treatment admissions, substance-related deaths and criminal offences are needed to better assess the overall harm caused by substance use and gambling in the community—even if these indicators are not always available or consistent. Taken together, prevalence data and specific indicators complement each other, and contribute to the knowledge of substance abuse and problem gambling at the local level and across the province

This report provides a compilation of data from secondary sources that profile select indicators of alcohol, other drugs and gambling in Alberta. The purpose of the report is to present information in a ready-to-use format, as an internal planning tool for AADAC staff and as a public information source. This edition is an update of reports produced in 1987, 1990, 1992, 1996, 1999 and 2003. In 1999, the report was renamed the Alberta Profile: Social and Health Indicators of Addiction, formerly the AADAC Social and Health Indicators Profile (SHIP).

For this edition, information has been expanded to include rates for alcohol-, drug- and tobacco-related provincial Help Line calls, on-premise licences for the sale of liquor, and high-school dropout rates.

Reference: ALBERTA PROFILE