CURBING 'HILLBILLY HEROIN'

With more than 460 deaths related to OxyContin overdoses in Ontario
in the last five years, something clearly must be done. Fortunately,
provincial health officials seem aware of the threat posed by
"hillbilly heroin" - as it is known by street dealers - and have
embarked on a review of how other jurisdictions are dealing with this
menace. OxyContin is a legal drug that is effective as a painkiller.
But abusers of the drug crush the tablets and snort the heroin-like
powder or mix it with liquid for injection into the veins. It is so
potent that drug traffickers can sell the medicine on the street for
more than 10 times its cost at the drug store. Demand for the drug is
believed to be behind prescription fraud and pharmacy break-ins.

The Star's Kevin Donovan found that Ontario's provincially funded
prescription drug programs spent $54 million on OxyContin
prescriptions last year - an increase of more than 180 per cent in
five years. That upward trend is reflected in a growing incidence of
OxyContin-related deaths, which numbered 123 last year, nearly double
the level in 2004.

Ontario is far from alone in trying to cope with the potential abuse
of OxyContin. Jurisdictions in the United States and Atlantic Canada
are already tackling the problem.

Last week, the province raised the issue at a meeting of provincial
and territorial health officials. "They pretty much made a commitment
on the spot that they would very much like to participate," says
Helen Stevenson, Ontario's assistant deputy health minister.

With that kind of co-operation, as well as input from coroners and
physicians, Stevenson hopes to produce a list of useful reforms
within five months, or even sooner. That's a promising start. Fast
action is needed. Lives hang in the balance.