Guelph

The cost of substance abuse in Canada is astronomical. According to the Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse (CCSA), in 2002 alcohol accounted for about $14.6 billion and illegal drugs for about $8.2 billion in social cost (Single, Robertson, Rehm, & Xie, 2002). This cost was measured in terms of the burden on health care and law enforcement, and productivity in the workplace or home. Arguably, the greatest cost may be immeasurable: human suffering and tragic loss of lives. This suffering is not limited to only of those wrestling with these problems, but extends those around them: family, friends, co-workers and society as a whole.

Various levels of governments in different communities across North America have initiated programs to deal with the opioid epidemic and its effect. Some of these initiatives will be examined in more details below.

Many people may not realize this but multiple states, including Michigan, are facing an epidemic. It is not a disease, however, it is a heroin epidemic. In a country where addictive opioid pain-killer prescriptions are handed out like candy, it not surprising heroin, also known as smack or thunder, has become a serious problem. The current heroin epidemic Michigan is facing, as are dozens of other states, has spiraled out of control in recent years. In Michigan, some of the areas hit hardest by this drug are in the southern portion of the state, like Wayne, Oakland, and Monroe Counties. The connection between painkillers and heroin may not be clear, but this is because both are classified as opioid drugs, and therefore cause many of the same positive and negative side effects. As a country, we are currently the largest consumer of opioids in the world; almost the entire world supply of hydrocodone (the opioid in Vicodin) and 81% of the world’s oxycodone (in Percocet and OxyContin) is used by the United States (Volkow). Along with consuming most of the world’s most common opioids, we have gone from 76 million of these prescriptions in 1991 to 207 million in 2013 – constantly increasing except for a small decrease starting in 2012 (Volkow). This widespread use has caused numerous consequences from increasing emergency room visits – for both painkillers and heroin – to sky-rocking overdose cases all over the country (Volkow). Michigan, unfortunately, currently has one of the

Drug abuse has always been a delicate subject as it deals with the health, safety, and the well-being of not only the users, but also everyone they come into contact with. Cities across Canada are faced with a rising number of drug abusers, and therefore increased cases of infectious diseases and overdoses by these users. Vancouver housed the first injection site in Canada; its purpose to offer sterile syringes as well as other equipment to addicts, medical care in the event of an overdose or other emergency, as well as counseling and referrals to drug rehabilitation programs. This was a great step towards ensuring the safety and security of the public; drug users are given access to safe, one-use syringes and are provided with clean environment,

The United States currently faces an unprecedented epidemic of opioid addiction. This includes painkillers, heroin, and other drugs made from the same base chemical. In the couple of years, approximately one out of twenty Americans reported misuse or abuse of prescriptions painkillers. Heroin abuse and overdoses are on the rise and are the leading cause of injury deaths, surpassing car accidents and gun shots. The current problem differs from the opioid addiction outbreaks of the past in that it is also predominant in the middle and affluent classes. Ultimately, anyone can be fighting a battle with addiction and it is important for family members and loved ones to know the signs. The cause for this epidemic is that the current spike of opioid abuse can be traced to two decades of increased prescription rates for painkillers by well-meaning physicians.

Through my observations of the Narcotics Anonymous meeting I believe that my analysis could be beneficial to the realm of medicine. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2014) released a study that displayed, “health care providers wrote 259 million prescriptions for painkillers in 2012, enough for every American adult to have a bottle of pills.” Considering the mass amount of prescriptions being written nationwide, it is not surprising that one of the members in the NA meeting I attended was able to easily obtain painkillers from her doctor. The specific interaction I encountered during the Narcotics Anonymous meeting where the woman described that her addiction was being supported by the constant prescriptions written by her doctor

After reviewing several online articles, the issue of fentanyl continues to come to the forefront for the community of Abbotsford. In creating a problem-oriented policing plan, I will be using the SARA model. Fentanyl is a strong opioid prescribed drug used to treat patients with severe pain and to cope with the pain of surgery. Fentanyl makes the neurotransmitters of the user a sensation of rewards. Fentanyl is a cheap drug which is easily accessible. Fentanyl is a hundred times more toxic than morphine. Just two milligrams of fentanyl can lead to an overdose. Scanning: So far in 2017 Abbotsford has 29 deaths caused by overdosing on fentanyl alone. In 2016, there was a total of 922 fentanyl deaths in British Columbia (CBC

During his research, Quinones documents the origin of opiate use within the United States in three areas: drug cartels, overprescription from medical practitioners, and the pharmaceutical companies. He claims that illegal use spurred from drug cartels when he notes, “... heroin in Denver originated in one small town in Mexico… a town called Xalisco” (43). However, even though opioids were common in the black market, the drug cartels were not the sole culprits of increasing the risk of addiction. Many Americans used the drugs for medicinal reasons. In a town named Portsmouth, people grew increasingly dependent on opiates during the 90s: “In this part of the country, anything that relieved pain was welcome. But opiates … quickly led to addiction” (Quinones 26). People that were just looking for some treatment soon had a deadlier problem on their hands— addiction. Since the public was looking for a solution for pain, the pharmaceutical companies were hungry to promote opioids for pain management. The industry, according to Quinones, was just starting to produce the deadly drug, and wanted the public to use its

Did you know that 91 Americans die every day due to an Opioid overdose and yet American’s still report no relief of pain? Since 1999 the number of deaths due to prescriptions opioid or heroin overdose has quadrupled (http://www.cdc.gov). Four out of five Americans turned to the black market for heroin, which initially started as an opioid drug addiction. It is an American crisis, due to the number of individuals that consume oxycodone, which accounts for eight-one percent of Americans (http://www.drugabuse.gov).

Doctors and clinical prescribers have discovered their role in curtailing the increased opioid prescriptions in America. It is without a doubt that they play a role in facilitating the opioid misuse endemic in the past by being enablers of the situations. When patients ask for pain medications, they do not take time to analyze the pain complaints or suggest alternative medications other than opioids. Even in instances when one doctor declines to offer a patient an opioid prescription for their pain needs, the patient is likely to find another who will give the prescription. However, there has been wide recognition of the opioid misuse endemic such that clinical prescribers are practicing more vigilant prescribing and are advocating opioid-free

In the United States, there has been upward swing of opioid abuse over the past decade. Overdose deaths involving opioids – both prescription pain relievers and heroin – almost quadrupled between 1999 and 2014. Well-intentioned efforts to curb prescription opioid abuse have yielded new policies with unfortunate, unforeseen consequences for the 15% of the US population that suffer from chronic pain – nearly 45 million people.

Nonmedical Prescription-Opioid abuse in the United States and Michigan has continued to rise, and with it, the devastating results that accompany it. Research has shown that increased opioid abuse leads to an increase in overdose and death, increases in crime and increased incidences of costly blood borne diseases like HIV, AIDS and Hepatitis. It also leads to increased societal costs, such as an increasing number of children in foster care and increased healthcare, workplace and criminal justice costs that can decimate communities and local budgets. Many communities were caught with their heads in the sand, as they were overwhelmed by the influx of prescription opioids into their communities. When policies were finally implemented to curb the amount of prescription opioids in their communities, rates of heroin use (also an opioid) began to skyrocket and people began realizing they had an opioid epidemic on their hands. How to combat this heroin epidemic has been the topic of many debates. This article will attempt to examine the relationship of nonmedical prescription-opioid abuse and its effects on heroin use.

The Opioid Crisis has grown tremendously throughout the years, the number of opioid prescriptions dispensed by doctors steadily increased from 112 million prescriptions in 1992 to a peak of 282 million in 2012, according to the market research firm IMS Health. The number of prescriptions dispensed has since declined, falling to 236 million in 2016.(CNN, Opioid Crisis Fun Facts, 2018, P6.). In 2016 there was 63,600 overdoses and 42,249 came from opioids, these drugs are getting easier to buy off the streets, so more people buy them because they are cheaper than some but get you the same high that they want from the other drugs. People get prescription drugs from either stealing them, or other people sell them to them, or they can even get them from their family, but they end up selling

The city of Vancouver has been known to have a drug issue, more specifically in the downtown eastside area, which holds one of the most unwealtiest and oldest neighbourhoods in Canada. While British Columbia has an estimate of 20,000 injection drug users who are pronounced to be in poverty, have a mental illness, and be homeless (Jozaghi, & Andresen, 2013: 1). In efforts to reduce this drug problem, the city developed a plan using a four-pillar approach that focuses on enforcement, harm reduction, treatment, and prevention (Schaefer & Haaland, 2014: 242). Schaefer & Haaland (2014: 242) explain each portion of this plan: the enforcement component consists of a trail court which varies out the options for drug treatment, the police aiming for

The purpose of this report is to show the major problems we face in America if we do not address the misuse of prescription drugs. America’s pain pill and heroin addiction exceeds that of all other countries in the world, statistics from the UN office on Drugs and Crimes show. This report will show emphasis on the misuse of prescription drugs and some of the causes.