Pubdate: Wed, 20 Apr 2005
Source: Dryden Observer (CN ON)
Copyright: 2005 Dryden Observer
Contact:  http://www.drydenobserver.ca/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2439
Author: Laurie Papineau
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/oxycontin.htm (Oxycontin/Oxycodone)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mdma.htm (Ecstasy)

DRYDEN GETS A WAKE-UP CALL

New-Age Drugs Are Common In City

You probably feel safe living in Dryden - oblivious to many of the bad 
influences facing larger cities.

After all, small communities in Canada don't have problems with things like 
new-age drugs  do they?

"More than you could even imagine," says Eric who has recently taken the 
initiative to start a local chapter of Narcotics Anonymous (NA) Eric, who 
only uses his first name, according to the rules of NA, is a recovering 
drug addict whose habit controlled his life for 25 years.

He stresses that his isn't a rare story in Dryden - the drugs and addiction 
are here, but historically, the support system has not been.

"This is a wake-up call for Dryden and the surrounding area," he says. "We 
have to acknowledge this is a problem and do something about it, or we're 
going to lose more people."

What's more, those at risk are not only middle-aged prescription drug abusers.

"I'm getting calls from kids who are doing some very scary drugs," he says, 
recalling a telephone conversation he had recently. "I talked to a 
15-year-old girl who bought OxyContin on the street in this city. She 
ground it up, mixed it with enough water to fill a syringe, and then her 
and two of her friends injected this stuff into their bodies - using the 
same needle."

OxyContin is just one drug, readily available in Dryden, destroying lives 
at an alarming rate.

OxyContin

OxyContin, like morphine, codeine and heroin, is an opium derivative. It's 
the brand name for the time released form of oxycodone, a high-potency and 
highly addictive painkiller.

Originally intended to treat pain in terminally ill cancer patients and 
those suffering from chronic pain, it was once dubbed a "miracle drug." 
Now, the manufacturers of this "miracle drug" are facing over 400 lawsuits 
in the U.S. alone.

It seems that in recent years, these pain killers have begun to be 
prescribed for everything from moderate to severe pain and sales took off, 
with an estimated $1.6 billion in worldwide revenues in 2003.

According to the lawsuits, the manufacturers "made representations or 
failed to adequately and sufficiently warn individuals regarding the 
appropriate uses, risks and safety of OxyContin."

Simply put, unmonitored or careless use of this drug can create a path of 
destruction.

Oxycodone works by bonding to the pain receptors in the brain so that the 
sensation of pain is reduced. Eric explains that, for some people, this 
binding can develop a whole new personality - someone very unlike the original.

As a recovering addict, his warning goes something like this:

"Imagine if you went into the doctor with a sore elbow, and the doctor 
handed you a prescription for OxyContin. At the same time, he tells you 
there's a good chance that in a month's time, you'll need more of these 
pills than he can prescribe for you. To get by until your next 
prescription, you may feel compelled to buy them on the street for $30-$50 
each. To support your new habit, you may resort to begging, borrowing or 
stealing. Ultimately, you could end up losing your job, family and/or life 
- - but your elbow will feel much better. Is it worth it?"

Eric says he's recently spoken to a young local man who has already lost 
his home and car to an OxyContin addiction. Now he's about to lose his wife.

"What's he got to lose after that?" he asks.

Doctors say the majority of people who take this drug do not become 
dependent on it, but admit they are seeing an increasing number of those 
suffering from addiction.

Unfortunately, the news gets even worse. OxyContin has become one of the 
new recreational drugs of choice among young people  and Eric says this 
includes the young people in Dryden.

Abusers crush the time release tablets and ingest or snort them - or dilute 
them in water and inject them.

Crushing or diluting pills disarms the timed-release action and causes a 
quick, powerful high, similar to the feeling experienced with heroin. "I've 
been talking to local kids who are high school age," says Eric. "Some say 
they've even been on the drug at school. They need to know that the better 
this stuff makes them feel - the more addicted their bodies are becoming to 
it. If they don't seek help, they'll have three choices in the long run: 
jail, institutions or death."

According to a W-Five report on CTV, in 2003, pharmacists dispensed 2.8 
million prescriptions for oxycodone drugs in Canada - most of them in 
Ontario. That's the equivalent of two tablets for every man, woman and 
child in the province. But Dryden's got a lot more than 'Oxy' making the 
rounds.

Morphine

Like Oxycodone, another popular and highly addictive painkiller called 
morphine has reared its ugly head in all large and small communities across 
Canada.

Aside from those who have become addicted to it during treatment for 
chronic pain, there is also an abundance of this drug being sold on the 
street. "When you're talking about drug abuse, these drugs make their way 
to our city in one of four ways," notes Eric. "Fraudulent prescriptions, 
doctor shopping, (where individuals go to several doctors to obtain 
multiple prescriptions, and then sell the drugs) over-prescribing or 
pharmacy theft." Like most other drugs, morphine abuse leads to a plethora 
of horrific side effects, and cannot be safely taken at the same time as 
many other medications. The above mentioned are drugs that are manufactured 
under the rigid guidelines of pharmaceutical companies. Other, even more 
dangerous, drugs are not.

Crystal meth

One of the nicknames for methamphetamine, crystal meth is a powerful 
nervous system stimulant, made in basement and garage 'labs' from cheap, 
over the counter ingredients.

Snorted, smoked, injected or swallowed, crystal meth delivers an initial 
rush, followed by an increase in activity for up to six to eight hours. 
"Sound good?" asks Eric. "They also lose their appetite and become 
paranoid, irritable and possibly violent. It damages blood vessels in the 
brain and users may end up with open sores they can't stop picking at." All 
of the calls the local NA has received concerning this drug come from young 
people, including teens.

What he wants kids to know is that addictions to drugs like this happen to 
anyone, starting slowly and then quickly building into something that will 
take over all aspects of their lives. "There's plenty of this stuff 
around," he notes. "And because anybody can make it, you never even know 
what you're taking from one time to the next. I know a young man who went 
to a party with his girlfriend and they both took crystal meth. She got 
really sick, and he got into a fight - it scared him, but not her."

When Eric says "anybody can make it," he's not kidding - the directions for 
it are on the Internet, complete with what to say when you ask for 
ingredients at the local pharmacy and hardware store! Crystal meth users 
develop an instant tolerance to the drug, causing a constant need to take 
more and more of it to achieve the same high. Overuse can cause memory 
loss, heart failure, convulsions, stroke, damage to your immune system, 
etc... including death. "Kids will go out to a party and try this stuff 
'just once'," explains Eric. "The next weekend they have a chance to do it 
again. Then, before they know it, parties don't seem as fun if there's no 
drugs involved. They're starting to spend all their time just thinking 
about how much fun they'll have on the weekend. The next thing you know, 
you're using on a Tuesday and can't keep your head straight for school or 
anything else." A poll of several Dryden High School students indicates 
that the majority is aware that these drugs and others are available to 
them should they ever have the desire and money to try them. Many will make 
the self preservative choice to stay as far away as possible, but others - 
some who just want to feel a sense of belonging, and others who think 
addiction could never happen to them - get drawn into the trap. Scott 
Urquhart, the principal at Dryden High School, says staff is aware of the 
choices facing teens today, which is why they've already brought a 
substantial amount of drug awareness material into the curriculum and 
frequently have speakers come in to discuss the topic.

"We work in concert with the police and Northwest Health Unit," explains 
Urquhart. "We believe we have a responsibility to educate and arm our 
students with enough information that they can make responsible choices." 
Aside from marijuana, local high school students say the drug they hear and 
see the most of is 'ecstasy'.

Ecstasy

The popularity of ecstasy probably came about because of its main effect of 
increasing emotional and sensual awareness. Considered a "sociable drug," 
it can also increase energy levels for partying. The key thing to remember 
with ecstasy is that it, like crystal meth, is not manufactured in a 
controlled environment - or even by individuals who have a clue as to what 
they're doing! Because of this, the high a person experiences can differ 
wildly between one experience and the next.

More importantly, so can the side effects. According to most of the 
published material on this drug, the majority of deaths caused from ecstasy 
occur after ingestion of one to three tablets, and may resemble the 
symptoms of heatstroke. Other side effects include muscle aches, liver and 
kidney failure, heart problems, severe anxiety and depression that could 
hit a few days after taking ecstasy. Still, with all of this to lose, many 
teens from Dryden use this drug and even host or attend E (ecstasy) 
parties, where the main goal is to experience the high with several of 
their friends.

Many, many more

"There's also plenty of cocaine and crack cocaine use in our area," says 
Eric, who notes that use of this drug is divided evenly between youths and 
adults. "There's been recent problems with 'roofies', a potent tranquilizer 
that has become the date-rape drug of choice in recent years."

What the recovering addict would like to know is what Dryden is willing to 
do to help curb the destruction these and many other drugs are causing.

He stresses that the new drugs come with new side effects and different 
signs of addiction, adding that the days of the red or glassy eyes are 
gone, and that some serious behaviour problems may be indicative of a drug 
addiction."I'm dealing with kids and adults of all ages," he says. "A 
little while ago, I spoke to a young man who thinks his only way out is to 
take a run at a pulp truck. Some parents who can't stand to see the 
symptoms of withdrawal in their kids are actually buying the drugs for them."

Several local parents have contacted The Dryden Observer in recent months, 
some reporting that the drug use in school-aged kids is not limited to 
those in high school.

"There's been drugs brought into our elementary school - they've even had 
the drug dogs at local elementary schools," says one woman who chooses not 
to use her name.

What can a community do?

Admitting there's a problem and establishing a safe local support system is 
the first step for the community in dealing with drug addiction, says Eric, 
who has personally paid most of the expenses of getting NA up and running 
locally. His bid to create a new awareness has extended from the media, to 
the high school, local police and city mayor, Anne Krassilowsky. "I knew 
there was a problem, but not to the extent I'm hearing about at this time," 
says Krassilowsky after meeting with Eric. "I find it quite frightening 
that this is going on in our community, and think that NA will be a major 
step in dealing with it. It's outstanding that Eric has agreed to commit 
his time and resources to this service, because it's obviously something we 
need."

Can Narcotics Anonymous help you?

The local chapter of NA meets on Saturdays at 8 p.m. at 75 Van Horne Ave. 
(go in the back door and it's the room immediately to your left). "I want 
to stress that NA is not affiliated with anyone," says Eric. "Our goal is 
to deal with the effects that drugs have on your life - the law is not 
involved in this program. We are exclusively a support group, and the basis 
of that support is anonymity." For those who don't want to attend the 
meetings, but who have questions about themselves, or possibly a loved one, 
they are welcome to call NA, any time of the day or night at 221-9797. "The 
first step is to pick up the phone," says Eric. "If you think you've got a 
problem - then you probably do."
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom