REALity Volume XXXV Issue No. 8 August 2016
Alarming Increase in Deaths by Drug Overdose in Canada
Drug overdose is the leading cause of accidental death in Canada. A major part of the problem is due to our massive addiction to “opioids” which are being over-prescribed by physicians for pain relief. Doctors prescribed pain relief prescriptions to one out of every two Canadians in 2015. The opioid, fentanyl, is at the forefront of Canada’s overdose epidemic. Fentanyl patches are 100 times stronger than morphine. Medical guidelines provide that no one should be put on fentanyl without doctors first trying a less potent opioid. Yet, many doctors write prescriptions for fentanyl for first time users with no previous exposure to opioids. According to Dr. David Juurlink, Head of Clinical Pharmacology and Toxicology at Toronto’s Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, “the idea that we’re just starting people on fentanyl is mind-boggling”. This is a public health catastrophe.
The deaths from illicit drug overdose in BC has increased in the first four months of 2016 by 75%. As a result, in April, 2016, British Columbia declared a public health emergency in response to the surge in both fatal and non-fatal overdoses. The declaration allows health officials to collect data on overdoses which will ideally result in a more timely response with the drug naloxone by emergency crews: this drug can reverse the effects of the opioids within minutes. Health Services statistics indicate a 44% increase in the use of naloxone in 2015. In the US, 49 states have effectively used a data base to collect data on overdoses. This allows physicians and pharmacists to review a person’s history with prescription narcotics and look for signs of abuse.
The problem of drug overdose has also been increased not only by legally prescribed fentanyl, but also by the presence of illicit fentanyl, usually obtained from China and smuggled into Canada. It is cut into a range of street drugs for its low cost and high potency. Most people who ingest illicit fentanyl do so unknowingly, which is especially dangerous for those who have not developed a tolerance for this opioid.
In 2009 there were 655 deaths in Canada involving fentanyl and more than 1000 lethal drug poisonings, where post mortem testing detected the presence of fentanyl. More people are dying in Canada from opioid overdoses than from car accidents.
For example, in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside there have been 256 fatal overdoses from illicit drugs in the first four months of this year, already more than half of the 480 for all of 2015.
There is virtually no sign of heroin on the streets, however, since the advent of fentanyl which is cheaper and far more potent. Addicts are quickly overdosing on fentanyl, thinking it is heroin, but the latter is far more dangerous and deadly – leading to their overdosing.
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Drug Needle Exchange Policy is a Fraud
Instead of restricting the use of illicit drugs, some provinces, such as British Columbia and Ontario, have initiated a so-called “harm-reduction policy” of providing free needle exchanges, supposedly to prevent the spread of diseases such as HIV and Hepatitis as well as preventing drug addicts from using dirty needles and then leaving the discarded needles lying in streets, alleyways and playgrounds.
This policy is a failure, due to the fact that there is no “exchange” of needles involved, but rather, used needles are re-used among addicts all over the city. These used needles have been found near children’s playgrounds in Vancouver’s West end, on the beaches, and on the streets everywhere. In fact, dirty needles along with cooking gear, water ampoules and rubber ties are among common detritus strewn everywhere in the city. These needles have traces of heroin, cocaine, crystal methamphetamine, as well as prescription opioids and are extremely dangerous.
Last year, the number of dirty needles recovered across the City of Vancouver was a staggering 250,732 – but this doesn’t include the large number of unrecovered needles discarded across the city, waiting to harm innocent passersby and children.