It can start harmlessly enough with a trip to the doctor for a bad back or a post-surgery prescription for painkillers, but it can lead down a dark and twisting path.

The scourge of OxyContin addiction has cut a grim path through large areas of North America over the past decade, and now it appears to have arrived in Muskoka at full velocity.

The problem is so great it may require the addition of a methadone clinic, which treats opiate addictions, in Muskoka. A clinic is rumoured to be opening in the mall on Highway 118 West in Bracebridge. The clinic is listed on the Ontario Addiction Treatment Centres website, though the organization did not return calls for comment.

Over the past year, the number of OxyContin-related charges appearing in Muskoka courtrooms has spiked dramatically and according to those who deal with addiction every day, those cases are just the tip of the iceberg.

“It’s the new crack and its growth is scary,�? said Warren Broad, who has been an addictions counsellor in Muskoka for the past eight years. “It’s just unbelievable how many kids and adults are doing it. It’s totally taken over.�?

Oxycodone is a synthetic opiate designed in the early twentieth century in an effort to improve on existing opiates like codeine and morphine. Since then it has been used in combination with other chemicals to create such drugs as Percocet, Percodan and the pharmaceutical OxyContin, which was first marketed to the public in 1996.

“I would say at least half of it (abuse) is coming from legitimate prescriptions written by doctors,�? said Broad, who has multiple clients dealing with OxyContin addiction. “The doctors simply don’t know that they’re being duped. You go to the doctor with a certain list of symptoms and this is what they prescribe.�?

If taken properly, the drug is typically non-habit forming and an effective painkiller, said Broad. However, if the patient takes it upon themselves to up the dose or they begin taking the drug through other means, OxyContin offers a very steep and slippery slope to addiction.

“There’s a huge feeling of euphoria and … the body is completely anesthetized and feels incredible. The mental euphoria is what creates a lot of the addiction. When you go from feeling … that there are no problems in the world to coming back to reality, it can be very disconcerting for many people,�? said Broad. “It seems to grab people a lot faster than even crack, especially once they start snorting it. A couple of weeks of that and you’re pretty much in.�?

Once someone is in, it can be extremely difficult to get back out again, said Broad.

“Part of the pain (of withdrawal) may be the existing injury or pain that the individual had, but the other side of it is that withdrawal from this drug causes pain,�? said Broad. “Sometimes the patient doesn’t even know that they’re not feeling pain because of their injury anymore, they’re feeling pain because of withdrawal. It’s a scary drug that way.�?

If the addiction persists, it can cause serious physical side effects including liver and kidney damage, and cardiovascular injury. However, for most addicts the negative side effects associated with the lifestyle of addiction can be the most damaging, said Broad.

“It’s extremely expensive. They’re paying $20 to $60 per pill, or more. Most of the clients I have are running $60 to $100 a day to feed their habit,�? said Broad. “One of my clients told me that at any given time there are four or five different dealers he can go to who are just waiting.�?

Most troubling to Broad is the large number of young addicts he is seeing.

“It’s hitting the high schools hardcore,�? he said. “I hate to see kids get on something so hard, so early in their lives.�?

Inspector Ed Medved, head of the Bracebridge OPP detachment, said he’s seeing a corresponding increase in the number of OxyContin-related crimes his officers are dealing with.

“A great deal of our business — thefts, break and enters and so on — is driven by narcotics,�? he said. “That particular drug is at the centre of much of our drug work and drug-related work.�?

The local police are increasingly coming across seizures of stolen property which are being sold to finance OxyContin addiction, said Medved.

“There are only so many big screen TVs or chainsaws or wakeboards one person can use,�? said Medved. “Why are people doing all this thieving? Well, they’re thieving to get money to buy narcotics.�?

The local police are also well acquainted with the ever-increasing problem of forged prescriptions.

“It’s to the point where we have some physicians and clinics who have people on a ‘black list.’ Someone will come in and say they need a prescription for a bad back or a bum knee and they just can’t cope, or someone stole their prescription,�? said Medved. “They’re either using them excessively or selling them.�?

Once arrested, those ensconced in the world of OxyContin can be dealt with harshly as they move through the legal system.

“This is a schedule one drug, which is the most serious drug and includes drugs like morphine and cocaine,�? said federal Crown attorney Peter Heath. “Even simple possession of a schedule one substance can get you a max of seven years in jail, and if you’re trafficking or possessing for the purpose of trafficking a schedule one substance, the maximum potential sentence is life.�?

Heath deals with the vast majority of drug-related charges prosecuted in Muskoka, and he said there has been a noticeable upswing in the number of OxyContin seizures made in the area over the past year.

Exactly how bad the situation will become locally remains to be seen, but with such a highly addictive and readily available drug, it appears there will be no quick fix to the problem of OxyContin in Muskoka.