Partnerships

Who does the Drugs and Organized Crime Awareness Service help?

The Drugs and Organized Crime Awareness Service (DOCAS) promotes partnerships with community groups, health and addictions organizations, public and private sector agencies, and other police forces to address specific drugs and organized crime awareness needs of communities.

DOCAS provides a service which includes two components, drug awareness and organized crime awareness. Under the drug awareness umbrella, the service has worked towards implementing demand reduction initiatives by working with and mobilizing community partners on substance abuse related issues. Under the organized crime awareness umbrella, the service is a natural extension of existing law enforcement initiatives used by the RCMP and other agencies to combat organized crime in an effective manner. The service is working to link both law enforcement and the general public to information on specific aspects of organized crime.

DOCAS's goal is to help educate Canadian Police and the public on the impacts of drugs and organized crime and on ways to reduce these impacts.

Some partnerships include:

The Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse (CCSA) is an arms-length, national agency, established in 1988 by an Act of Parliament. Funded by Canada's Drug Strategy and through its own revenue-generating efforts, the Centre:

• promotes informed debate on substance abuse issues and encourages public participation in reducing the harm associated with drug abuse;
• disseminates information on the nature, extent and consequences of substance abuse; and
• supports and assists organizations involved in substance abuse treatment, prevention and educational programming.

Health, Education and Enforcement in Partnership (HEP) is a network of people and partners, of individuals and organizations, of issues and perspectives all committed to addressing substance use and abuse issues. It unites key players from the health and enforcement fields in a common focus, and is inclusive of other integral partners, such as the judiciary, education and social services.

The Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police, Drug Abuse Committee has the mission to promote safer communities through proactive leadership by addressing and influencing prevention, enforcement and treatment of substance abuse. The committee comprised of 18 members and 6 technical advisors representing Municipal/Provincial Police, RCMP, and representatives from Health, Sol. Gen, CCSA, Customs, who also participate in HEP (Health Enforcement in Partnership).