Tag Archives: oxycontin

A look back at 2012, and what 2013 might hold in drug and addiction issues, and treatment ... including the continuing stories of the new synthetics, aka bath salts, incense and potpourri -- also the continued increase in heroin use as pharmaceuticals become more costly and harder to get. And where are we in the evolution of treatment?

Psychoactive drugs cross ... the placental blood barrier - so can affect a baby in utero. ... hospitals have recently seen a large increase in babies born addicted to opioids, and the profound consequences that follow. We discuss this issues, options for detox and treatment, also the use and misuse of methadone.

Heroin has become more popular recently, because the most sought-after prescription drugs are ... much more expensive, and inexpensive heroin, especially from Mexico is filling the gap. We look at the "War on Drugs" started by Nixon, inreaction to the grwoing use of heroin in the 60s, and the current changes in demographics, with the realization that heroin is not just the drug of the inner city, the poor and disenfranchised, but rather crosses all levels of society.

Canada has ordered OxyContin removed from pharmacies, in response to the continuing abuse of this powerful opioid. Many groups, including First Nations members with high numbers of addicted persons among them, are warning that the move will push people to more dangerous drugs such as heroin. We look at the OxyNeo replacement drug, what its implications are, and related aspects, including whether doctors are under- or over- prescribing powerful and highly addictive pain medications.

New statistics from the DEA show a six-fold (600%) increase in the use of opioids, primarily oxycontin and vicodin, over the last ten years. We discuss this trend which we have reported, and the relationship to pain management.

Are we overreacting to the issue of increased use/abuse of pain medication, and we are perhaps still under-treating pain?. We try to look at the bigger issues of what is pain, why does it persist, and even if abuse numbers are low, what are the implications for the addiction-sensitive population.