PRESCRIPTION-NARCOTIC USE NOW HUGE PROBLEM

Study Findings 'Quite Shocking'

TORONTO -- Heroin is no longer the opiate of choice among many
substance abusers -- prescription narcotics such as morphine and
OxyContin are taking its place, says a study of street users in seven
cities across the country.

Researchers found that heroin remains the No. 1 illicit opiate only
in Vancouver and Montreal. In the five other cities -- Edmonton,
Toronto, Quebec City, Fredericton and Saint John, N.B. -- more often
than not, getting high means grinding up and injecting prescription
opioids like Percodan.

Furthermore, the switch to highly addictive prescription narcotics
among street users likely represents just the tip of the iceberg,
said lead author Benedikt Fischer, an addiction researcher at the
University of Victoria. If the general population were factored in,
he suspects the numbers would be much higher.

"We have to do research as to what is the shape and size of the
iceberg below the tip that we've been showing with our little paper,"
he said yesterday. "There are indications that it might be quite enormous."

The study, published in today's issue of the Canadian Medical
Association Journal, showed that heroin in 2005 wasn't even a factor
among injection drug abusers in Fredericton, and it was barely
noticeable in Edmonton and Quebec City.

"So that was quite a shocking finding for us," said Fischer. (Cocaine
use was not part of the study, but the drug remains "quite
prevalent," he said.)

"This study for the first time systematically documents this for
street-drug-use populations," he said.

While heroin is produced in countries like Afghanistan and typically
imported and distributed by organized crime, "opioids come in some
fashion directly or indirectly from a doctor's office, they're
produced legitimately by pharmaceutical companies," he said.

Supplying addicts with such painkillers as Demerol, Dilaudid,
OxyContin and Percodan has given rise to break-ins at pharmacies,
double-doctoring (seeking prescriptions from different doctors) and
more theft to fuel a drug habit.

As well, Canada "is a very prescription-happy society," Fischer said.
"Canada is among the top consumers of prescription opioids."