Sudbury Vital Signs report: drug, alcohol abuse among youth not improving

A new report says Sudburians still smoke more, drink more, and are more obese than the rest of Ontario.

The annual report, called Vital signs, combines information on the health of the city, including areas like safety, housing, the environment and the arts.

The executive director of the Sudbury Community Foundation — the group behind the report — said what's alarming about the health of the city are the rates of drug and alcohol abuse, especially among youth.

"I mean we really need to start to grapple with these, because they have such an impact on our health system [and] ... on people's abilities to be part of our community in a real way," said Carmen Simmons.

"The idea of having an ill community is not very appealing."

The report cited a 2013 health unit survey that found almost a quarter of Grade 7 to 12 students had used marijuana in the last year.

And nine per cent of the students surveyed reported using opioid pain relievers.

"Smoking rates have not improved," Simmons said.

"They're getting worse — and certainly a lot worse than the province and the country."

The rates of crime in Sudbury have decreased, but are still higher than the provincial average.

The report says Sudbury's crime severity index rests at 61.3 per cent — more than 10 per cent above the provincial average.