A drug called Suboxone does exist to help people wean off OxyContin, but many who need it most, are unable to get their hands on it.
An estimated 9,000 people living in northern Ontario’s First Nations reserves are addicted to OxyContin. Now that the popular painkiller is no longer being produced in Canada, community leaders are sounding the alarm about the road ahead as thousands will soon experience the agony of withdrawal.
OxyContin was discontinued Thursday due to excessive abuse. Its replacement OxyNEO, still manufactured with oxycodone as the main active ingredient, is supposed to help combat that problem.
Deidra Waswa, a former OxyContin addict living in Fort Hope, Ont., says quitting wasn’t easy.
“I’ve tried off and on myself, but I just couldn’t do it ’cause everyone is doing it around me, and everyone in my family does it.”
She says it was easier to stay hooked on the drug, rather than go through painful withdrawal with no treatment.
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Help, however, did arrive in the form of Suboxone, which took away cravings and withdrawal symptoms. It is not a typical treatment for opiate addictions – methadone is normally prescribed. But in remote communities where doctors are scarce, methadone isn’t an option.
Wanda Sugarhead, a detoxification counsellor, says Suboxone does wonders for addicts. “You know, it’s like saving a life.”
But there are roadblocks to accessing Suboxone. There is a waiting list with 400 people. Applying for a Suboxone prescription takes another month. And not everyone is approved. “As of today, it’s five out of 55 clients. So…we’ve got 50 other people not approved,” says Sugarhead.
“It’s very frustrating.”
Dr. Claudette Chase, a physician in Fort Hope, Ont., knows all too well demand is high. “If we get flooded with requests for treatment, even now, I often get people who say, ‘I don’t get into detox until the end of April. I can’t wait that long, could I please start Suboxone now? I can’t live like this,’ and I have to say no.”
“There have been rejections from both the provincial and the federal side, and it’s not always clear why.”
Suboxone also costs a lot more than methadone. Health Canada, which pays the medical bills for First Nations reserves, says it’s approved 95 applications for Suboxone in northern Ontario this week alone.
Valerie Gideon of Health Canada says, “If Suboxone is determined to be the best option for that client, we will work very diligently to ensure that treatment is made available.”
With Suboxone in high demand, some people will even try to make a profit. “People will sell their Suboxone, because it helps with withdrawal,” says Dr. Chase.
“Part of the reason that Suboxone is in the community is that we don’t have the support to do direct observe therapy… If we had proper supports, there would be no Suboxone in the community because it’s new… We are lucky to have the community resources we do.”
Dr. Chase adds, “Our current system is not what it should be. If you were in Thunder Bay and on Suboxone, either a pharmacist or a nurse would be administering it to you. But here, we have a person who we’ve trained locally to do it.”
Police are worried that without a treatment drug, OxyContin addicts will turn to harder drugs.
Cst. Andrew Dunn of the Nishnawbe-Aski Police Service says, “It’s going to get bad and it will peak at some point in time.”
With files from Global National’s Jennifer Tryon
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