"Our analyses suggest that public perceptions of the relative seriousness of substance abuse problems are incongruent with the actual costs they impose on Canadian society. In particular, the total social costs associated with alcohol are more than twice those for all other illicit drugs in 2002, yet the public consistently rated the overall seriousness of illicit drugs as higher at the national, provincial and local levels in the Canadian Addiction Survey (2004). Interpreting these findings it is possible to suggest that perceptions of the seriousness of illicit drugs are relatively amplified while perceptions of the seriousness of problems associated with alcohol are relatively attenuated in Canadian society."

Source

Thomas, Gerald and Davis, Christopher G., Comparing the Perceived Seriousness and Actual Costs of Substance Abuse in Canada: Analysis drawn from the 2004 Canadian Addiction Survey," Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse (Ottawa, ON: Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse, March 2007), p. 4.
http://www.ccsa.ca/Resource%2…