Pharmaceutical companies that manufacture or distribute highly addictive pain pills have hired dozens of officials from the top levels of the Drug Enforcement Administration during the past decade, according to a Washington Post investigation. The hires came after the DEA launched an aggressive campaign to curb a rising opioid epidemic that has resulted in thousands of overdose deaths each year. In 2005, the DEA began to crack down on companies that were distributing inordinate numbers of pills such as oxycodone to pain-management clinics and pharmacies around the country. [continues 2457 words]
Around 40 parents and youth attended a recent community street drug trends presentation at Fox Run School. Organized by the Sylvan Lake RCMP the presentation aimed to equip parents with skills to allow recognition of street drugs and theparaphernalia associated with drug use. Sylvan Lake RCMP School Resource Officer,Constable Michael Lee in partnership with Constable Kevin Lintott of the Organized Crime and Intelligence Unit out of the RCMP's Red Deer City Detachment provided information to parents on various street drugs including cocaine, heroine, marijuana,methamphetamine and MDMA. In addition, the officers also touched on the impact fentanyl is having in North America and Central Alberta. [continues 420 words]
Two doses of naloxone saved a six-month-old puppy from an overdose after it ingested drugs in Mount Douglas Park. Veterinarian Helen Rae said Chico was brought to the McKenzie Veterinary Hospital on Friday evening after her owners noticed she was wobbly and appeared to be under the influence of drugs. The owners knew the puppy had eaten something while on leash in the Saanich park but didn't know what. Rae noticed the dog, a pug cross, couldn't walk straight, seemed sedated and had constricted pupils. [continues 204 words]
Naloxone has seen a meteoric rise in use in British Columbia as an opioid overdose antidote. As of mid-December more than 755 people had died from overdoses, including 128 in November alone, according to the B.C. Coroners Service. Naloxone, however, has become a first-line response for drug users, first responders and others who witness an overdose. Here is a primer on what naloxone is, what it does and doesn't affect, and how prevalent it is in B.C. [continues 310 words]
[photo] Hydrocodone at a pharmacy in Montpelier, Vt. (Toby Talbot / AP) Drug wholesalers shipped 780 million hydrocodone and oxycodone pills to West Virginia in just six years, a period when 1,728 people fatally overdosed on these two painkillers, according to an investigation by the Charleston Gazette-Mail. That amounts to 433 of the frequently abused opioid pills for every man, woman and child in the state of 1.84 million people. The Gazette-Mail obtained previously confidential records sent by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration to the office of West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey. They disclose the number of pills sold to every pharmacy and drug shipments to all 55 counties in West Virginia between 2007 and 2012. [continues 881 words]
Incoming packages will be inspected if there are reasonable grounds to be suspicious. This is vital when you are dealing with deadly substances like fentanyl and carfentanil. Ralph Goodale Public Safety Minister The federal government has unveiled a series of measures aimed at curtailing Canada's booming underground market in fentanyl, just as the death toll climbs and more communities sound the alarm about illicit drugs. Under Bill C-37, tabled in the House of Commons on Monday, pill-press machines used in clandestine labs to manufacture bootleg fentanyl could no longer be imported into Canada, and border guards who inspect goods coming in would have broader powers to seize and open suspect packages. [continues 697 words]
KITCHENER - Grand River Hospital is joining local public health, pharmacies and Sanguen Health Centre in distributing life-saving naloxone kits to those who might be susceptible to an opioid overdose. The hospital in conjunction with the Waterloo Region Crime Prevention Council announced a pilot project this week in which the emergency department will distribute naloxone to those patients at risk of an opioid overdose. Patients can be recreational users or those on prescription opioid medication. "We are another piece in the puzzle. It's another venue where people can receive these kits and we can reach people in need," said Dr. Rupinder Sahsi, emergency room physician at Grand River Hospital and St. Mary's General Hospital. [continues 459 words]
The federal government is looking at arming Canada's border guards with broader powers to open and seize suspect packages, as a growing volume of illicit fentanyl is smuggled into the country. Caroline Xavier, a vice-president at the Canada Border Services Agency, told a House of Commons committee examining the opioid crisis that the government is reviewing the Customs Act to determine whether restrictions that prevent guards from opening small packages should be removed. Currently, border guards who inspect goods coming into the country are not authorized to open packages weighing less than 30 grams without the consent of the recipient. They can open and inspect any package exceeding that threshold and use detection technology to screen all mail. [continues 556 words]
Drug interventionist Andy Bhatti, a former heroin user himself, said addicts need more access to immediate treatment and to methadone if lives are going to be saved. "There is a two-to three-month wait for a publicly-funded treatment beds and private treatment can cost up to $7,500 a month," said Bhatti. He's sending some of his clients to Thailand to a high-end treatment centre that costs less than half that amount. He claims there is a full-time psychologist there as well as other therapies. [continues 763 words]
Alberta Avenue resident Adam Millie "tore a strip off " council staff when he heard Edmonton was considering four safe injection sites in the inner city. Attracting more addicts and crime to fragile communities is not the answer, Millie raged in a series of frustrated messages on Twitter, Facebook and in an email to council. Then he had a change of heart. He thought about the issue Friday evening. On Saturday, he deleted those messages, sent an apology to council, and came to City Hall on Monday to argue this plan is actually critical to making those fragile communities safer. [continues 520 words]
'It's such a silent killer that nobody knows about,' mom says It's the end of November and the light is woolly, the forest barren, still, out behind the Dolman place, perched on a ridge in North Gower. The house is tidy, quiet enough to hear a newspaper rustling. Sandi Dolman, 62, is at the kitchen table talking about her son Neil, 33, because talking about Neil is all she can do now. He died April 1 from an overdose of fentanyl, another victim of a horrible mistake. [continues 958 words]
Heroin's deadly cousin, the synthetic opioid fentanyl, figured in 417 fatal drug overdoses in New Jersey in 2015, nearly three times the number of fentanyl-related deaths in the year before, according to new state figures. The findings from the Office of the State Medical Examiner confirm the fears of law enforcement and public health officials, who have been forecasting an ever-rising body count from opioid addiction. In 2014, the number of fentanyl-related deaths in New Jersey stood at 142. [continues 465 words]
Medical marijuana users give thumbs up to retail dispensary At one point, following a severe industrial accident in 2005, Craig Upham was taking 28 different medications per day. Five of those were to counter side effects of the prescribed narcotics he was taking. Upham eventually became addicted to oxycontin, which robbed him of his personality, made him hostile and ruined a marriage. "In 2007 they didn't know what to do with me," he said. "The doctors told me I wouldn't be able to walk, I would be in a wheelchair." [continues 396 words]
Canadians have one of the highest rates of prescription opioid use in the world - five times higher than in the U.K., for example. This is a tragedy because we don't do any better at reducing chronic pain - just at creating addiction and an epidemic of overdose death. Many reasons have caused this, including the influence and marketing tactics of the pharmaceutical industry, the willingness of Canadian insurers to pay for drugs like OxyContin, as well as mistaken assumptions about opioids by prescribers and dispensers. [continues 588 words]
Opioid conference misses point, advocate says A policy to address the latest opioids crisis at a Health Canada conference in Ottawa does not go far enough, or fast enough, to prevent future deaths, an advocate says. Cynthia Genaille, whose daughter Brittany died of a fentanyl overdose on Oct. 6, speaks to media during a small rally denouncing the opioid in front of the Legislative Building. "Where's the urgency?" Richard Elliott, the executive director for the Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network, asked. "You need to stop people from dying now." [continues 354 words]
Addiction can hit close to home for some people - and can often end tragically for those involved. This week, the Canadian Centre for Substance Abuse, in partnership with the Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA) and other participating organizations, will be holding their annual education campaign, National Addictions Awareness Week. This year's theme, Addiction Matters, will draw attention to substance misuse as a chronic health issue that impacts individuals, families and communities across Canada. CMHA Oxford executive director Mike McMahon said six-million Canadians will meet the criteria for substance abuse disorder in their lifetime. [continues 323 words]
Modern medicine has evolved greatly over the years in treating cancer and other illnesses. We have radiation and chemotherapy to reduce tumour growths, we have opioids to decrease pain and there are a number of over the counter drugs we can buy when we're feeling under the weather. But what about using marijuana in treatments for life threatening diseases and other life-altering ailments? It's not talked about very openly, in fact many who use cannabis oil tend to keep it under wraps, said Don Keith, a medical marijuana license holder in Petrolia. That's why he has planned a discussion group at the Petrolia library on Friday, Oct. 28, to offer support and a safe place to talk about using medical marijuana without ridicule or judgment. [continues 911 words]
Dangling uselessly at her side, Jan Rieveley's right arm has become a "paper weight." A bad fall in a dark cave in Ohio four years ago tore nerves previously made weaker from cancer-radiation treatment. "It's pain 24/7," says the 61-year-old owner of a small Riverside business. Rieveley said her previous opiate "cocktail" of Percocets and other pain medications permitted her to work about two hours a week. Rieveley hated what those opioids were doing to her. So, six months ago, her doctor prescribed pot, and it worked wonderfully. Her life on pot has improved to the point she's working a couple of days a week. "I like control in my life," Rieveley said of her decision to avoid the powerful opiates of the pharmaceutical companies. [continues 940 words]
Lighting up a joint is still a popular choice for drug users even with the introduction of numerous other narcotics to Sault Ste. Marie in recent years. Marijuana use "is probably as much, or more, than it was in the past," said Staff Sgt. Jody Greco, head of Sault Ste. Marie Police Service's drug enforcement unit. Pot is no longer the major focus of his unit's work with cocaine, crack cocaine, fentanyl, heroin and methaphetamine now present in the community. [continues 248 words]
A group of Canadian families devastated by the overdose deaths of loved ones met for the first time to share their stories and plans for action. On Friday, members of Moms Stop the Harm arrived at the Summerland Waterfront Resort Hotel to launch a weekend of conversation and advocacy in response to the North American overdose crisis. Until now, much of the group's work and communication has been limited to social media and conference calls. Founder Leslie McBain, who lost her son Jordan in 2014 to opioid overdose and is consulting with the B.C. government on solutions to the crisis, said more than a dozen parents and family members from B.C. and the Prairies are attending. [continues 471 words]
