IN OXY PIT

DRUG TRAFFICKERS will try anything to get past this country's defences.
We've all heard of human "mules" swallowing cocaine-filled condoms to elude
Customs or of shipping containers arriving on our shores packed with drugs
hidden in hollowed-out food items.

Addicts, too, will try just about anything to get their fixes. And these
days, it's not just illegal narcotics they're looking to score, but
prescription drugs.

Last year, a Glace Bay woman was sentenced to two years in jail for holding
up a drugstore - albeit apologetically - with a knife. She didn't walk out
of the pharmacy with a bag full of cash, but a garbage bag full of
OxyContin, the painkiller she was hooked on.

Other addicts and their suppliers are more creative - and sinister. As The
Sunday Herald reported last June, they monitor the obituaries section of
the newspaper and break into the homes of deceased cancer patients while
their families are attending the funeral. Then the burglars rifle through
the house looking for leftover painkillers like OxyContin, which they can
use or sell, for up to $80 a pill on the street.

Prescription drug abuse is a growing scourge in many communities. It is a
catalyst for despicable crimes, in which the ailing, the elderly and the
vulnerable often become prime targets. It is a tragedy, too, for addicts
and their families. This past week in Cape Breton, the deaths of three men
- - two of them brothers - were linked to prescription drug abuse.

So, what are we doing about it?

Many pharmacists have locked away sought-after painkillers under lock and
key, and keep only a day's supply on hand. But physicians are the ones who
can really turn off the tap. Police believe the majority of OxyContin that
ends up on the street comes from legitimate prescriptions, and they have
criticized doctors for liberally dispensing such drugs. Some patients sell
the pills they don't immediately need on the black market for a handsome
profit.

A Newfoundland and Labrador task force looking into OxyContin abuse in that
province echoes similar concerns about overprescribing in its interim
report this month. "Initial data gathered by the task force indicates that
the quantity of OxyContin tablets prescribed and dispensed in this province
has increased by 400 per cent from 2000 to 2003. This rapid growth is not
unlike any other provinces in Canada, however, Newfoundland and Labrador is
showing an increasing trend in the prescriptions for higher strengths."

The report does note that the medical profession's philosophy of pain
management has changed with the advent of better pain-relief drugs that
have fewer of the drawbacks associated with traditional narcotics.

Obviously, there are some legitimate reasons for the spike in
prescriptions, and blaming irresponsible doctors is far too simplistic. One
cannot lose sight of the fact most patients who get these drugs need them -
and some who live in rural areas need them in larger quantities because
it's impractical for them to return to the drugstore every week. One should
be wary of conducting witchhunts of doctors - as has happened in the U.S. -
based on the volume of painkillers they prescribe.

Far more useful is the province's prescription monitoring program, which
aims to root out double-doctoring - the practice of patients visiting
several physicians so they can acquire multiple prescriptions.

Right now, the province relies on a mail-in system to spot repeat
offenders, but the lag time is two weeks. Computerization of the service
would give doctors crucial information in real time. Encouragingly, Premier
John Hamm seems open to this idea.

The Newfoundland task force, whose final report is expected March 31, also
recommends tamper-resistant prescription pads for narcotics, plus a major
push to educate youth, doctors and pharmacists about OxyContin abuse.

There is little point in Nova Scotia setting up its own task force - as
Cape Breton Regional Police Chief Edgar MacLeod suggests - when it is
likely to arrive at the same basic conclusion as Newfoundland's. We could
save ourselves time, money and grief by following through on their
recommendations posthaste.