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Oxycontin & Fentanyl
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Opioid analgesic medication is prescribed for people experiencing chronic and acute pain. Any opiate-based narcotic can be extremely addictive, which means that somebody taking it needs to be carefully monitored by a doctor to prevent abuse and potentially debilitating withdrawal symptoms. Over the last 15 years, Canada has been experiencing a prescription drug crisis. This started with OxyContin, which spawned the first wave of addiction and overdose deaths throughout Canada in the early 2000s, leading to Health Canada launching a review on the dangers of this drug in 2004. This led, in 2012, to OxyContin being removed from most public drug plans, making it much more difficult to obtain. The replacement medication was produced in a tamperresistant form that made it more difficult to crush, chew or snort to get high. However, in the years that followed, the popularity of other opiates such as hydromorphone, fentanyl, and even heroin rose dramatically, leading to a prescription drug crisis in Canada.
“This started with OxyContin, which spawned the first wave of addiction & overdose deaths throughout Canada...� PAGE // 24
In recent years, a disturbing trend has emerged across Canada. People obtaining prescription opiates and heroin to get high are sometimes unknowingly consuming Fentanyl, sold as fake OxyContin pills or laced with other substances that people are buying. Because Fentanyl is so powerful - it's estimated to be 80 times as powerful as morphine and hundreds of times more powerful than heroin, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention - the risk of accidental overdose is high. The consequences can be deadly, and across Canada there has been a sharp increase in overdose deaths due to Fentanyl. DRUGS & ADDICTION: FACTS YOU NEED TO KNOW