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. - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom