Pubdate: Fri, 30 Jan 2015
Source: National Post (Canada)
Copyright: 2015 Canwest Publishing Inc.
Contact: http://drugsense.org/url/wEtbT4yU
Website: http://www.nationalpost.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/286
Page: A8

WAR ON DRUGS WHACK-A-MOLE

Several jurisdictions around the world are currently experiencing a 
surge in overdoses of fentanyl, a powerful narcotic the U.S. Centers 
for Disease Control and Prevention estimate is "80 times as potent as 
morphine and hundreds of times more potent than heroin." Ironically, 
one of the main culprits is the war against the abuse of a much less 
powerful narcotic, OxyContin - "hillbilly heroin," as it's colloquially known.

In 2012, before the patent on OxyContin expired, the manufacturer 
withdrew it and replaced it with a "tamper-proof " version called 
OxyNEO, which is very difficult to crush into powder (to snort) and 
turns into a useless gel-like substance if diluted (to inject). In 
hopes of tackling Oxy abuse, some jurisdictions, such as the United 
States, then banned generic, non-tamper-proof forms of the drug. 
Ontario Health Minister Deb Matthews pleaded with her federal 
counterpart, Leona Aglukkaq, to follow suit, arguing "the costs to 
society of the reintroduction of the more easily abused version far 
outweigh the financial benefits that would accrue from the reduced price."

That may well be the case. Canada ultimately approved generic 
OxyContin, but several provinces, including Ontario, have refused to 
fund it. Thus the supply of crushable Oxy on the black market has 
declined dramatically.

Unfortunately, people addicted to narcotics tend not to go teetotal 
just because their drug of choice becomes harder to obtain. A 
safe-injection site in Sydney, Australia, reported that OxyContin 
injections plummeted after the tamper-proof version was released - 
from 800 a week to just 50. But wouldn't you know it, heroin 
injections rose 37% and fentanyl injections 225%. And despite total 
visits dropping, there were more overdoses, because people were 
suddenly using more powerful and/or non-pharmaceutical-grade drugs.

The Canadian experience has been similar. Last October, Calgary 
police reported an uptick in heroin seizures, as the price of the 
drug fell and that of OxyContin soared. This week, the Calgary Herald 
reported "a dramatic rise in the number of fatal overdoses linked to 
fentanyl," according to Alberta's chief medical examiner. "While 
oxycodone deaths fell [in Ontario] in 2012, deaths due to virtually 
every other painkiller rose," Global News reported in 2013 - "to a 
total of 576 acute toxicity deaths, up from 547 the year before."

This is a classic case of War on Drugs whack-a-mole, and there is no 
comprehensive solution in sight. But there is the drug naloxone, an 
"opioid antagonist" that's very effective in counteracting narcotics 
overdoses. Canadian jurisdictions should consider making it more 
readily available - to all first responders, for example, and to 
friends and families of addicts, as is allowed in 23 U.S. states. 
Michael Parkinson, of the Waterloo Region Crime Prevention Council in 
Ontario, told the Herald that "Good Samaritan" laws, under which 
witnesses who report overdoses would be immune from prosecution, 
would also help.

We all wish people wouldn't take drugs. Knowing that they do, we 
should want them to stay alive. Encouraging people to call 911 in 
drug-related emergencies, and making what is effectively an 
"antidote" to narcotics overdose more widely available, should hardly 
be matters of extreme controversy.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom