Ontario targets OxyContin abuse

Ontario plans to launch a new tracking system to curb the abuse of the highly addictive painkiller oxycodone and other prescription drugs.

The system would track all prescription drugs dispensed in Ontario, from painkillers such as OxyContin, morphine and codeine, as well as stimulants and sedatives like Ritalin, Valium and phenobarbital.

Health Minister Deb Matthews says she'll introduce legislation this fall that would allow the province to expand its drug database to track prescription drugs as they're dispensed under both public and private drug plans.

The current system only tracks drugs prescribed under a provincial program that funds medications for seniors, welfare recipients and the disabled.

The expanded system would send out an alert if someone tries to get the drugs from several doctors orattempts to fill prescriptions at several pharmacies.

Matthews has often spoken about how the abuse of OxyContin is a serious and urgent problem that's destroying lives.

Health plan pays for drugs

One of the big concerns is that public dollars are being used to pay for the pills, which are getting out on the streets and fuelling addictions.

Bureaucrats in the Health Ministry have for some time been looking at new measures to curtail the abuse of OxyContin dubbed "hillbilly heroin" by some and other opioid pain pills.

Former assistant deputy minister Helen Stevenson spoke about the measures last November, saying there's no question that public dollars are being abused.

In one case, 2,000 OxyContin pills were dispensed to a single patient under the provincial program.

Those who are trying to get their hands on large quantities of the drug often game the system by getting a prescription through the public drug plan one day, and a private plan the next, Stevenson said.

Crushing pill overrides slow release

The ministry formed a narcotics advisory panel in April 2009, which heard from a number of groups across the province, including First Nations communities, parents who've lost their children to drugs and private drug plan administrators who say they're seeing the same abuse.

Experts say OxyContin is particularly addictive due to its design.

It comes in high-strength doses where 35 per cent of the drug hits you right away. It's slow-release mechanism can also be overridden by simply crushing the pill.

People taking the drug are also vulnerable to addiction because they're in physical or psychological pain, experts say.

One study on drug use among Ontario students found that one in five teenage girls admitted to using an opioid painkiller without a prescription, with many users getting the drugs from home.