The federal government is moving to improve prescribing practices for prescription drugs that have a high risk of abuse or addiction.
Health Minister Rona Ambrose has issued a national call for proposals on how this objective may be realized.
Health Canada will devote $3.6 million to support the development of evidence-based practices for appropriate prescribing of the most commonly abused classes of prescription drugs: opioids, stimulants, sedatives and tranquillizers.
The call for proposals is aimed at projects that will improve prescribing practices
and the educational needs of health care practitioners.
It also focuses on projects that will develop new approaches, training and tools to improve these prescribing practices.
Prescription drugs are now the third most commonly abused substance among Canadian youth, after alcohol and marijuana.
The 2012 Canadian Alcohol and Drug Use Monitoring Survey results show opioid pain relievers are among the most commonly used prescription drugs, and almost one in six Canadians aged 15 years and older reported the use of opioid pain relievers in the past 12 months.
