Pubdate: Sun, 27 Feb 2011
Source: Ottawa Citizen (CN ON)
Copyright: 2011 The Ottawa Citizen
Contact: http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/letters.html
Website: http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/326
Page: A1
Author: Pauline Tam

TEEN PILL-POPPERS ON THE RISE: SURVEY

Recreational Use Of Painkiller OxyContin Jumps In Eastern Ontario, 
Even As It Levels Off In Rest Of Province

One in five Eastern Ontario high-school students has taken highly 
addictive painkillers such as OxyContin, Percocet and Demerol. And 
the recreational use of OxyContin among this region's teens is rising 
sharply, even as it levels off in other parts of the province.

Only alcohol and marijuana are more popular, according to the Ontario 
Student Drug Use and Health Survey, the country's longest ongoing 
study of teen habits.

Among Eastern Ontario's 308,000 students between grades 7 and 12, 
nearly 65,000, or 21 per cent, admit-ted having taken a prescription 
painkiller at least once in 2009, the last time the survey was conducted.

Since 2005, when the survey began tracking OxyContin use in 
particular, the rate of Eastern Ontario students who reported taking 
the drug has jumped nearly threefold, from 0.6 to 1.6 per cent. That 
translates to more than 4,900 young people in a region stretching 
from Algonquin Park to the Quebec border.

"It was a big surprise for us to see how common these drugs are," 
said Robert Mann, a senior scientist at Toronto's Centre for 
Addiction and Mental Health and one of the survey's authors.

The survey confirms what police and public health officials already 
know is an epidemic that has pushed up rates of overdose deaths and 
drugstore robberies.

Addiction treatment experts consider the survey results a 
conservative estimate since the poll only tracks students who attend 
school, not those who have dropped out or been expelled.

"This is just the tip of the iceberg," said Glenn Barnes, chief 
executive of the Dave Smith Youth Treatment Centre, Eastern Ontario's 
residential drug treatment facility for teens.

"You're missing all of those troubled kids who get kicked out (of 
school). My hunch is they're the ones who would be into more drugs 
than all of the kids in school combined."

While heavy drug use among teens has generally declined over the past 
two decades, Eastern Ontario is the only region to have bucked the 
provincial trend, driven by OxyContin's popularity.

The brand-name drug is a potent painkiller containing the opioid 
oxycodone, which delivers an initial rush of euphoria, much like 
heroin. Doctors prescribe oxycodone to help patients recovering from 
surgery, back injury or chronic pain, but the drug can also be highly 
addictive.

The growing popularity of Oxy-Contin as a recreational drug, 
particularly in rural communities, is an unintended consequence of a 
dramatic rise in prescriptions nationwide for oxycodone.

Compared to a decade ago, Canadians now use more prescription opioids 
per capita than any country but the United States and Belgium.

Police say the black market demand for OxyContin has taken off in 
recent years, as have thefts of prescription painkillers, turning 
pharmacies into targets for OxyContin robbers.

Within Eastern Ontario, Cornwall has become an epicentre of 
Oxy-Contin abuse, fuelling a sharp rise in petty crime. In the past 
18 months, nine adults and teens have died from OxyContin-related 
overdoses. The area's public health unit, working with police, has 
formed a task force to tackle the problem.

"You can see why we're worried about it because it's something that 
people get hooked on very easily," said Dr. Paul Roumeliotis, the 
chief of public health for the rural counties surrounding Cornwall. 
"And because of the addiction and withdrawal, they'll go to any 
lengths -prostitution, crime -to feed their habit."

Unlike other street drugs, Oxy-Contin is relatively easy for teens to 
get, particularly if their parents or grandparents have prescriptions 
for it, said Roumeliotis.

And when teens become addicted to OxyContin, they are far less likely 
than addicts of alcohol or other types of drugs to seek help.

In his previous job as director of the Cornwall area's youth 
addictions treatment program, Barnes noticed "a frightening number" 
of teens who showed up in hospital emergency rooms after overdosing 
on OxyContin.

"Before these kids died, they were not looking for treatment," said Barnes.

Provincewide, more than 180,200 students between grades 7 and 12, or 
18 per cent of all teens, have taken an opioid-based painkiller at 
least once without a doctor's prescription. Of that group, 16,700, or 
two per cent, have taken OxyContin.

More than half of OxyContin users reported having taken the drug once 
or twice a year; another 15 per cent admitted using the drug more 
than 10 times.

Among Ontario's regions, the highest rate of OxyContin use continues 
to be in the north (3.2 per cent), followed by the west (1.7). Since 
2005, Toronto's rate has jumped from 0.8 to 1.3 per cent with no 
reliable data for 2009.
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MAP posted-by: Keith Brilhart