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Privacy problems with methadone
bylaw: Priddy
Kent Spencer, The Vancouver
Province, Friday,
March 07, 2003
Surrey's proposed methadone
bylaw is frightening people who fear being exposed by bylaw officers,
says Coun. Penny Priddy.
"I don't feel comfortable
with a bylaw officer having confidential health records,"
said Priddy, a former B.C. health minister. "What if a person
is employed by the city?
"This goes down a very
slippery slope of violating people's rights."
Surrey's bylaw would force
methadone users to take the drug in front of the dispensing pharmacist
in order to reduce "illegal drug trafficking in methadone."
The most controversial section
would allow bylaw officers to "inspect the records retained
by the pharmacist," including the patient's name and doctor's
instructions.
That clause has been criticized
by B.C. Privacy Commissioner David Loukidelis, who urged Surrey
this week "not to proceed with the bylaw at this time."
But Mayor Doug McCallum said
that Surrey intends to bring a bylaw forward on Monday for first,
second and third readings.
"That will be our response,"
he said. "Methadone pharmacies are causing us major problems."
Up to a dozen stand-alone dispensaries
are located in a four-block area of downtown Whalley, which has
long been plagued by drugs and crime. It has been targeted for
a block-by-block cleanup.
"There is a growing body
of evidence that some methadone prescriptions given for off-premises
consumption end up feeding the consumption of other drugs and
causing death or injury from methadone overdoses," says
a report to council.
Priddy said she realizes some
people abuse their carry-away prescriptions.
"I realize it's frustrating,
but this is not a well-thought-out strategy," she said,
suggesting the College of Pharmacists of B.C. can deal with disciplining
dispensaries, if needed.
kspencer@png.canwest.com
© Copyright 2003 The Province
Methadone clinic slated to
open
Global TV, March 05, 2003
Calgary's first methadone clinic
is scheduled to open in two months.
The closest clinic right now
is in Red Deer.
People who are addicted to
heroin and morphine go to the clinic to take methadone - it helps
them get off those drugs.
Tonight, in the first part
of a two part series, Louie Koutis takes a look at the need for
such a clinic in our city.
Also tonight, a Calgary man
shares memories of his brother who died in the last Gulf war.
© Copyright 2003 Global
TV
Official advocates methadone
to fight perscription drug abuse in municipality
By Steve MacInnis, March
11, 2003
A rising prescription drug
abuse problem in the Cape Breton Regional Municipality has prompted
a call for the Department of Health to offer methadone in a bid
to treat such addictions.
"It is time to talk about
a solution. It is time to talk about methadone," says Christine
Porter, project co-ordinator for the Sharp Advice Needle Exchange,
based in Sydney.
In a letter to the editor and
subsequent interview with the Cape Breton Post, Porter says methadone
is currently only used as a treatment drug by doctors and in
the regional detoxification unit and not to help addicts manage
their addictions.
"The fact of the matter
is that you can't take away an individual's coping mechanism
without offering something in its place."
Spokespersons for the Health
Department and the local detoxification centre were not available
for comment Monday.
While a variety of prescription
medications are being abused, the two most common being encountered
by police and health workers like Porter are Dilaudid and oxycodone
- better known by its trade name, OxyContin.
"It starts out as a pain
management drug for injuries from car accidents and slips and
falls and can quickly turn into a nightmare for the individual
and their family," says Porter.
She says her service - which
allows addicts to exchange and dispose of old needles for new
ones - is seeing more and more new intravenous drug users who
had never before been involved in the drug culture but have suddenly
found themselves addicted to Dilaudid and oxycodone.
"We are seeing everyone
from the June Cleavers to the hard core drug addicts," says
Porter, predicting the problem of abuse is only going to grow.
Residents in the regional municipality
are becoming all too familiar with the effects of such addictions,
as two individuals were recently sentenced to federal prison
terms for crimes they blamed on addiction to oxycodone. One was
sentenced to six years while the second received two years.
"I see this as a growing
problem," says Porter, adding the community is going to
have to come together to find a solution.
Oxycodone is used to treat
moderate to severe pain and the manufacturer advises that individuals
using the drug take caution when it comes to driving or operating
machinery as it may cause drowsiness or dizziness.
It is also advised that the
pills not be crushed, chewed or otherwise broken open as it can
cause too much of the drug to be released into the bloodstream.
But Porter says that is exactly
what addicts are doing, noting the high is akin to heroin, which
is why police in the United States have labelled the drug "hillbilly
heroin."
In 1995, when oxycodone was
first introduced in the U.S., sales equalled $55 million. Last
year, sales totalled more than $1 billion. In 1995, Canadian
doctors issued 600 prescriptions for the drug while last year
a total of 126,000 were written, compared to 6.5 million written
in the U.S.
Porter says while some addicts
are saying they want help to deal with their addictions, they
are confronted with bed shortages at the local detox unit.
She says anyone thinking of
trying the drug should only do so under the close supervision
of a doctor.
Porter says withdrawal symptoms
are extreme, running from severe joint pain to a feeling like
the stomach has been pushed so far in that it touches the tailbone.
© Copyright 2003 Cape Breton Post
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Truth can never be told so as to be understood,
and not be believ'd. 