Globe and Mail: "The crucial opioid interventions Canada needs now"

[[La...]]

https://beta.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/the-crucial-opioid-interventions-canada-needs-now/article36034061/?ref=http://www.theglobeandmail.com&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_medium=Referrer:+Social+Network+/+Media&utm_campaign=Shared+Web+Article+Links 

 

 

[[be...]]

Thank you Lapis!  Excellent article.  Pinpoints the root of the problem and proposes what seems to me the solutions to this disaster.  So many people are dying here where I live, everyday.  There has been no improvement.  The people who are supposed to be solving this problem so far are failing.  They are opening new supervised injection sites, which is not the answer for everyone who has become addicted.  Is anyone listening or do they all just keep point their fingers at someone else, shifting the blame, meanwhile people keep dying?  Here are the answers.  It just has to be carried out.  Easy, no?  (My questions are rhetorical). 

 

 

[[La...]]

It's happening on this side of the country too, benzohno. It's a complex, multi-factorial problem. There's a new pop-up safe injection site here, and one of the workers at this site said that many of the people don't usually access the health care system. They're outside of it. This "on the ground" (in the park, actually) site brings it closer to them. I do think people are trying to help, but there's a lot to be done. "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure," and we're now into the "pound of cure" part. It's going to take awhile to undo the damage that was done by years of over-prescribing.

 

I keep thinking about the benzo issue, and I'm sure the numbers are huge too. People aren't dropping dead, as in the case of opioids, but there's plenty of human misery that will take a long time to undo. Again, prevention should be the focus. New prescriptions need to be reigned in, and those already on the meds need to be helped with safe, slow tapers and knowledgeable support. Can it happen?

[[be...]]

Whatever is being done is not making any difference overall, not here anyways.  Things have gotten worse.  In this city, we've already surpassed the total amount of deaths that occurred in 2016 and there's still over 4 months left in this year.  On Global News tonight, the message from tonight's expert is that the solution is to legalize illicit drugs.  We know this is not the solution for everyone!  I'm so frustrated with the "news" when the whole complex story is out there, yet they won't tell it.  I don't know why I keep tuning in to Global...just curious I guess.  I should stick to CBC.  And I'm frustrated with the lack of progress when solutions have been carefully studied and outlined.  Half the work is done.  I don't understand why this is taking so long.  Just venting here. 

 

Yes, I agree about the benzos.  The opioid crisis is certainly reflective of our own situation.

[[La...]]

There was another report this morning on CBC Radio about the safe injection site in the park and how difficult it is to help the people who have issues of poverty, illness, addiction, etc. They're outside the regular channels of communication, so it's hard to reach them. People are volunteering to help at the site, yet burnout is a real issue too. For now, it's filling the gap until more permanent sites are in place, which is expected in the fall.

 

And yes, the news is reporting the idea about legalization, which seems strange to me.

 

 

[[be...]]

It's good they're filling that gap for those on the outside who need help, here and in your parts, but I'm disappointed that CBC reporting, even where you are, isn't in line with the Globe and Mail newspaper, which is based there.  There's so much more to this story that everyone needs to understand, as was covered by the Globe and Mail.  I watched CBC news here last night and they said what Global News said, which was that our city has surpassed the total amount of deaths that occurred in 2016 and there's still 4 months left in this year.  That is all they said!  That was the end of the report.   

 

Newspapers and TV news are not in sync.  I don't think TV or even radio is the place to go to get the news.  It's a good place to go if you want to get angry and/or be entertained.  Grrrrrrrr!!!!

[[La...]]

Hi benzohno,

You may be interested in reading this Toronto Star article, called "Overdoses Are A Preventable Crisis", by city councillor Joe Cressy:

 

https://www.thestar.com/opinion/commentary/2017/08/10/overdoses-are-a-preventable-crisis-cressy.html 

[[be...]]

Thank you Lapis.  He says a lot that not enough is being done, more needs to be done and I can't argue with that.  Still, so much emphasis on and attention to safe injection sites and those folks.  What about everyone else, the other poor souls, the guy/girl next door who just needs their doctor-prescribed opioid to continue in pill form so they can taper off safely and not also end up on the street.  For the first time I saw it addressed in the Globe and Mail article you posted:

 

...we concretely propose, at least for the regional hotspots of the present emergency, a comprehensive program to provide the at-risk opioid user population a safer opioid drug supply for survival. For ideal reach and impact, such a protective program would identify and register current high-risk opioid users to – at least temporarily – receive access to safe opioid medications through the public health system (e.g., hospitals, community clinics, mobile distribution). This targeted distribution program would – as an emergency measure – seek to protect vulnerable, treatment-resistant opioid-dependent users from acute risk of overdose, while providing links to addiction treatment and other services where desired.

 

Yet, here is the critical dilemma: An unintended consequence of recent, well-intentioned efforts to curtail opioid overprescribing has resulted in marked reductions in medical opioid supply. These supply gaps have resulted in an emerging illegal, potent and toxic drug supply, including illegally produced fentanyl and carfentanyl and other illegal drugs laced with toxic opioid analogs. This dynamic, at least in British Columbia and Alberta, has fuelled the majority of recent opioid overdose deaths.

 

I'm just frustrated by how long this is taking.