Pubdate: Sat, 12 Jul 2014
Source: Peterborough Examiner, The (CN ON)
Copyright: 2014 Peterborough Examiner
Contact: http://www.thepeterboroughexaminer.com/letters
Website: http://www.thepeterboroughexaminer.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2616
Page: A4

CURE FOR PAIN COULD WIND UP KILLING YOU

It's a classic story from the war on drugs: Police forces team up,
gather intelligence and strike fast and hard in the small hours,
armouring up to batter down doors and arrest drug dealers in the chaos
of noise and tear-gas smoke. This is a scene repeated almost daily
across the continent, as police services carry out the seemingly
never-ending battle against narcotics, and it happened here Wednesday.

What set Project Blackrock apart, however, was not the tactics used
but the drugs being seized. While some of the suspects arrested in
Wednesday's sweep were charged with cocaine-related offences, much of
the trafficking targeted by city police (with OPP and CKL teams
joining in) involved drugs that, in a better world, would legally only
be available by prescription to people who need them.

Hydromorphone. Oxycodone. Percocet. Dilaudid. These are medically
essential painkillers, opioids designed through rigourous trials to
relieve pain. They're prescribed every day to people who need them,
and stolen, bought and sold on the black market by people who don't.

In the wake of Project Blackrock's arrests, city police brought in
community partners, including the health unit and addictions experts,
to try to raise public awareness of how serious an issue this is.

According to a study published this week in the medical journal
Addiction, Ontario deaths related to otherwise legal opioids doubled
between 1991 and 2010, reaching 550 deaths a year - and those numbers
are four years old.

When we hear about drug raids, we picture hard street drugs and we
think of rough-looking street criminals. And that's part of the
overall picture. But opioid dealers serve a wider market, one with
"clients" most of us would never think of as drug addicts.

A key difference is the path that leads to this addiction. Many opioid
addicts started off as patients; they were hurt, and needed something
to ease their pain during recovery. They looked at their new pill as a
cure, not a killer.

That's when the powerful grip of addiction to these drugs takes
hold.

Awareness is key, and not just for the general public. It has to start
with physicians, many of whom clearly prescribe these drugs without
making their patients fully aware of the dangers. Most public health
officials agree that this is an issue that must be explored.

But it ultimately comes down to the patient. These drugs are meant to
help, not to hurt. Overuse and misuse are no different from smoking or
alcohol abuse - it's a medical issue that affects all of society, but
it's up to each individual, whether doctor or patient, to be aware of
that risk and use this medication correctly. So pay attention to that
public health message - it may affect you one day.
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