Painkillers killing young users
"ö Shop for OxyContin at walk-ins "ö Three die while waiting to get help
By: Jen Skerritt
Three people died waiting to get help for their addiction to prescription painkillers as the number of young adults hooked on drugs like OxyContin skyrockets in middle-class neighbourhoods across Manitoba. 
EVIL STUFF!
Addiction expert Laurie Magee said she's seen a sharp increase in the number of young adults in communities like Winkler and Steinbach, and city suburbs like St. Vital, addicted to OxyContin -- a prescription opiate that has gained notoriety for its lucrative resale value.
There are 146 people waiting to get into Addiction Foundation of Manitoba's methadone intervention and needle exchange, more than 75 per cent of whom are between the ages of 18 and 25.
Magee said most of the young adults are middle-class suburban kids with "professional parents" who shared pills with friends at a party and accidentally got hooked. She said she knows of at least three addicts who died of drug-related causes while on the wait list and suspects the number of deaths could be even higher.
Addiction experts like Magee want doctors and pharmacists to crack down on "drug shoppers" who hop from doctor to doctor to nab multiple prescriptions for the opiates. Police have said the illicit practice turns big profits and eight tablets of OxyContin sell for about $150.
"They're taking it just to be normal, they're not getting high anymore," Magee said. "I do know three people on my wait list have died on my wait list and that's three I know of."
Magee said OxyContin addicts often can't replicate their initial high unless they up their dosage and increase the likelihood of a drug overdose.
She said young adults chew, snort, grind up and inject the prescription pills. When they try to quit, they can experience leg cramps, vomiting and severe diarrhea.
Magee said addicts tell her there are dealers who sell OxyContin in high school, while others from communities outside Winnipeg travel to various walk-in clinics to "doctor shop" and score numerous prescriptions. The troubling trend has lifetime consequences, Magee said, since many OxyContin addicts end up on methadone for life.
Methadone is a synthetic opiate that suppresses symptoms of OxyContin withdrawal.
"Typically, by the time they ask for help, their lives are out of control," Magee said.
"Some people are coming into the city and going into different walk-ins and bringing it back."
Earlier this year, doctors and pharmacists in Point Douglas raised alarms about the resale of prescription painkillers like OxyContin on the street. Medical experts say the North Main strip of medical clinics and pharmacies has become a hub for the resale of prescription painkillers.
Pharmacists have access to the Drug Programs Information Network (DPIN) data entry system that keeps track of patient prescription. While it allows pharmacists to see if a patient recently filled a prescription for OxyContin, Magee said pharmacists and physicians often don't have time to check it.
She said addiction experts would like to see someone investigate who is prescribing and filling prescriptions for OxyContin to get a handle on the escalating problem.
jen.skerritt@freepress.mb.ca
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