Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Earlier this year, I participated in a study that surveyed Canadian Legislators' views and attitudes related to health promotion and in particular, smoking and alcohol abuse. The survey included those in the NWT and Yukon. More than half of the Legislators thought the government should have major responsibility in discouraging young people from starting to smoke. Fifty percent of Canadian Legislators felt government has a major responsibility for preventing alcohol abuse. The rate of heavy drinking in the Northwest Territories among adults is 25 percent versus a national average of nine percent. In the area of smoking, a GNWT study completed in 1996 showed 44 percent of adults smoked compared to the national average of 27 percent. Lung cancer kills more people in the NWT than any other cancer. Tobacco abuse is also responsible for higher rates of crib death, burns and fire injuries.
A major study of the economic costs of substance abuse to the Canadian economy was released in 1996. It was estimated that substance abuse costs Canadians more than $18.4 billion per year. For every child that is born with fetal alcohol syndrome, society pays about $1.5 million for a lifetime of health and education costs. Clearly, it is in our collective best interest to reduce incidents of substance abuse. Our government has individual programs that address alcohol and tobacco abuse, but I do not know if we have a coordinated, overall strategy to address substance abuse. I would like to know the extent of the NWT's efforts to develop such a substance abuse strategy. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
--Applause