Latest News

Fighting a growing problem

cartoon_dec142016Today, The Oshawa Express publishes the second feature in three weeks discussing one subject: addiction to opiates. Headlines across the country and right here at home have told the horror stories of those addicted to these substances. Last year, several people overdosed in Durham Region as a result of fentanyl, a highly potent opioid. The same drug was also found in a batch of heroin seized earlier this year by Durham police, making a drug that could kill you on its own even more deadly.

For many, the starting point for this addiction is something that comes across as relatively harmless: getting a prescription from your doctor. However, these seemingly innocent drugs can be highly addictive and lead to resulting problems down the road.

In Durham Region, there has been a noticeable increase in the number of these drugs prescribed – 36 per cent for those aged 15 through 64 from 2006-2010 to 2011-2013 – as well as the number of drug-related emergency room visits, with 440 last year, compared to 228 in 2003.

While it could be argued that the government has been slow to react – last month, a group of Ontario doctors announced that they believe the federal government should declare a national public health emergency over the issue of opiate and opioid addiction – there has been plenty of good work being done on the local level to help.

The Pinewood Centre, part of the Lakeridge Health family, provides addiction and mental health services for those that have made the decision that they need help – one of the toughest decisions an addict has to make on the road to recovery. And even better, many of the centre’s services are covered by OHIP, meaning that even the most disadvantaged in our society have the opportunity to access these valuable services. This offers the opportunity for anybody – not just those with deep pockets – to turn their life around.

For those not ready to take that step, several community groups, including the AIDS Committee of Durham Region and the John Howard Society, are operating programs to keep those with addictions safe and help get them the services they need. Whether its providing clean needles and taking in dirty ones (rather than leaving them in parks or dumped in sewer drains, leading to a hazard for all of us), helping them get into shelters or counseling services, these groups work on the ground level to get people the help they truly need.

And while there could always be more – Celia Triemstra, the AIDS Committee of Durham Region’s harm reduction coordinator, says that there needs to be more shelters and more access to addiction services in the area – these groups, among with countless other organizations and individuals, are doing the hard work in helping people get the leg up they desperately need.

UA-138363625-1