BREAKING THE OXYCONTIN HABIT

Newfoundland and Labrador has a serious problem with abuse of
OxyContin, a highly addictive painkiller. Seven deaths have been
linked to the potent drug. A task force has studied the problem since
last December, and made 50 recommendations this month.

The task force produced a good report, although it took a
frustratingly long amount of time from the standpoint of those seeking
urgent action on the OxyContin problem.

For its part, the provincial government did act swiftly to accept and
implement some of the recommendations, or start work on them. There's
not much disagreement with the call for increased education, and
implementing tamper resistant prescription pads in the province for
controlled substances. Obviously, there is a need for better
information sharing in general among the stakeholders in this issue,
through means such as a Pharmacy Network.

Other recommendations are more controversial. One calls for the
government to fund a formal needle exchange program in St. John's.
Another seeks changes to facilitate police access to medical
information. This will help to reduce the appalling problems of double
doctoring and physicians who are prescribing OxyContin
excessively.

They might be controversial, but the government shouldn't shirk from
imposing strong measures to deal with this insidious problem. The
number of prescriptions for OxyContin soared by 280 per cent in just
two years. Parallel to that has been a surge in robberies and
burglaries in the St. John's area in particular.

Newfoundlanders and Labradorians have watched tragedies unfold in the
lives of individual persons afflicted with this addiction, and the
havoc they wreak on others, both family members and strangers.

The system has been woefully ill-prepared to respond. Clearly, more
resources and a greater focus are needed to forcefully deal with this
social plague. The government will be allowed some time - but not much
- - to build and implement a comprehensive strategy on OxyContin, as
urged by the task force.

In an ideal world, the option would be offered for in-house treatment
inside the province, although the task force found that outpatient
treatment is usually more successful.

The Opposition Liberals made it clear right away that they want the
full report with all 50 recommendations accepted and implemented
immediately by government.

The Williams administration will find it difficult to defend their
failure to do so promptly, should that be the case. If legislation
needs to be changed, why wait till October or November for a regular
sitting of the House o f Assembly? Call a special session just for the
OxyContin issue.

We've waited long enough. Let's get moving.

The government should bite the bullet, find the cash needed, and get
on with the task at hand. To let this issue sink into the mire of
government red tape or 'business as usual' would be nothing less than
criminal.