Pill problem

Committee formed to combat ‘epidemic’ of prescription drug abuse

It was just before 6 p.m., suppertime, when the police surrounded and then raided a Salem Road home two Thursdays ago. Once inside, the members of Project Longarm found evidence of a marijuana grow op, cash and quantity of prescription pills Oxycontin.

Cindy Williams and Donald Millar were charged with drug crimes and held pending bail.

The arrest points to the changing nature of drug crime in Prince Edward County and elsewhere.

Where once the focus of drug enforcement was centred around marijuana, crystal meth and cocaine, the local market is giving way more and more to the trade of prescription drugs—mosty opioids such as Oxycontin and Percocet.

The risks ramp up quickly when these medications are mixed with alcohol, anti-depressants or anti-anxiety drugs.

According to OPP Detachment Commander Barry Freeburn, the ease of access and lower risk of criminal prosecution is propelling the increase in the trafficking of prescription pain medication. But Fairburn says these drugs are addictive opium derivatives that destroy lives.

The death of NHL player Derek Boogard last month was caused by a combination of oxycondone and alcohol, according the Minnesota medical examiner. In Brockville and inquest is currently underway examining the circumstances around the death of 48-year-old Donna Bertrand.Testimony provided at the inquest indicates Bertrand was, prior to her death, prescribed a level of Oxycontin eight times higher than her initial dosage.

The inquest has learned that her physician did not ask his patient for police records despite his patient reporting several times that her medication had been stolen. The doctor did ask his patient if she was selling her pills. She said no.The doctor told the inquest he is not a “trained inquisitor.”

Bertrand and 19-year-old Dustin King died, of drug overdose, days apart in the same apartment.

In the County, Fairburn says the vast majority of small and petty crime in this community can be traced back to drug abuse. As dependency gains a tighter grip, the costs increase. Desperate, the abuser seeks any means to relieve the burden the drug creates.

Physicians, like the one in Brockville, sometimes play an unwitting role in the trade—renewing prescriptions without verifying the need, increasing the dosage (and therefore increasing the street value of the pill) as well as failing to notice or signal a suspicious prescription pattern.

To begin to address the problem in this community, a group of folks closest to the problem has been pulled together to work toward a solution.The committee is composed of physicians, nurses, the crown attorney, pharmacologists, mental health workers and police.

The goal is to alert and educate frontline workers to the issue and develop better intervention measures . The trick of course is that many folks legitimately require pain medication to make it through the day. No one wants to make these folks suspects simply because they use these pills, but rather identify and weed out the abusers.

Despite the complexity of the crime and difficulty in prosecuting, steps are being taken to see that that Picton doesn’t become another headline in this unfolding tragedy.