Still looking for hope
28/03/12 05:59
One of the tasks of physicians is to treat pain. People are motivated to go into the healing arts because they want to decrease the amount of suffering in the world. But pain is a tricky matter. It has a function in healing. Pain can be a signal to the body to cease motion in an injured area, allowing time for bones to knit. The decreased motion can result, however, in atrophy of muscle strength. The human body has amazing qualities of self-healing, but there are things that can be done to enhance healing and to decrease the discomfort of the affected person.
Since ancient times healers have known of certain substances that can be used to decrease pain. Long before scientists understood the workings of the nervous system, they discovered that there were certain plants that, if administered, could decrease pain. As is true with many things in life, however, most painkilling substances have unintended consequences. There are side effects that come from the painkillers. One problem with some painkillers is that they create a sense of well being that invites use in circumstances where no physical pain exists. These drugs are highly addictive and once abuse begins it is nearly impossible for the addict to stop use. People will destroy relationships and their very lives in search of the high caused by the drug.
In the early part of the 20th century, the German pharmaceutical company Bayer stopped the mass production of heroin due to hazardous use, addiction and harmful side effects. Despite the altered dynamics when a patient is suffering from extreme pain with a condition that cannot be cured, the abuse of drugs by those not in such a position created such suffering that it was decided to stop production of the drug in mass quantities. The problems of heroin addiction were far greater than the benefits of the medicine. Scientists searched carefully for alternative drugs to help ease pain for those suffering serious illness or injury.
Among the synthetic drugs that were developed is Oxycodone. It was hoped that the drug would provide the benefits of morphine and heroin with less dependence. That is somewhat true. Oxycodone has a somewhat milder initial effect and the effect does not last as long.
We in the United States are the highest consumers of pain medications. Approximately 82% of all Oxycodone produced worldwide is consumed in the United States. Brand names include OxyContin and Percocet. Canada is the second largest consumer of these medicines.
The US and Canada are also the locations of the most devastating forms of abuse of Oxycodone. The effects of the abuse are especially evident in isolated communities in northern Canada. Fort Hope is a community in northern Ontario that is so isolated that no roads reach the community. It is a three-hour flight to the nearest airport with connections to the rest of Canada. In the winter, ice roads are opened across the lakes to allow trucks to arrive with supplies, but most residents have no cars to travel away from the community. Oxycodone and its abuse have arrived in Fort Hope. It is estimated that 80% of the people living in the community are addicted.
Addicts crush the tablets, heat them and then inject the drug for an immediate feeling of well-being. It doesn’t last. And the need for the drug increases. The addiction is so strong that users think of little else and are willing to do almost anything to get their next hit. If they do not obtain another dose they go through severe withdrawal symptoms including anxiety, panic attack, nausea, muscle pain, fever and more.
The addiction brings with it financial devastation. In Fort Hope one OxyContin pill sells for $400 - $600. With the street price of $40 per tablet in Toronto, there is a lot of profit in transporting drugs into isolated places like Fort Hope. Recruiting addicts as mules for the drug trade is easy. Some addictions cost upwards of $2,000 per day. It is money that the people do not have. They literally sell or trade everything they have for the next hit. The addiction is destroying the community.
The local chief and council have set up a detox center in Fort Hope. The center uses another drug, Suboxone, to wean users. The center has the ability to treat four people at one time. There are seventy names on the waiting list. Chief Harry Papah has declared a state of emergency as a result of the surge in addiction. With the addiction has come a wave of violent crime including two murders and nearly 50 arson attacks.
The crime wave and the state of emergency have resulted in increased law enforcement support from the Provence of Ontario. They are catching more drug smugglers. It is relatively easy to find the drugs at checkpoints in the airport or along the ice highway. The preferred trick of smugglers is to modify a Red Bull can into a place to carry the drugs. They have slowed the flow of the drug into the community.
The immediate short-term effect of increased law enforcement, however, is increased suffering. Interdiction causes the price to rise. Rising prices means more financial distress for addicts. Addicts take whatever they can from family members and friends in a desperate attempt to obtain the drug. Children are left without food in homes that have been stripped bare in search of items to exchange for drugs.
There isn’t much hope in Fort Hope these days.
Chief Harry Papah has now taken the extraordinary step of inviting reporters from BBC and other world news agencies to come to his community to report on the problem. Community leaders have come together to discuss possible solutions for the problem. Fund-raising has begun to increase the capacity of the detox center. Educational efforts have been raised. The number of people who are signing up for detox is increasing. There are a few signs that change is coming.
The people of Fort Hope and other native communities suffering under the weight of addictions don’t need simple solutions or easy fixes. They need long-term commitments from the wider community to address the root causes of addiction and to forge long-term solutions. It starts with raising awareness. The road ahead is long and fraught with danger.
The people of the North Country are strong people. Their very existence has depended on the ability to live in conditions that others cannot imagine. They have developed courage and resourcefulness born of a harsh climate. Those virtues will come to the fore as they struggle with the challenges of this day. All is not lost, but tiny pills, smuggled in from the cities, will prove to be one of the toughest dangers the people have ever faced.
I hope that in years to come it will become the focus of story and legend and song as the elders teach younger members of the community the history of their people and the dangers they have overcome.
Since ancient times healers have known of certain substances that can be used to decrease pain. Long before scientists understood the workings of the nervous system, they discovered that there were certain plants that, if administered, could decrease pain. As is true with many things in life, however, most painkilling substances have unintended consequences. There are side effects that come from the painkillers. One problem with some painkillers is that they create a sense of well being that invites use in circumstances where no physical pain exists. These drugs are highly addictive and once abuse begins it is nearly impossible for the addict to stop use. People will destroy relationships and their very lives in search of the high caused by the drug.
In the early part of the 20th century, the German pharmaceutical company Bayer stopped the mass production of heroin due to hazardous use, addiction and harmful side effects. Despite the altered dynamics when a patient is suffering from extreme pain with a condition that cannot be cured, the abuse of drugs by those not in such a position created such suffering that it was decided to stop production of the drug in mass quantities. The problems of heroin addiction were far greater than the benefits of the medicine. Scientists searched carefully for alternative drugs to help ease pain for those suffering serious illness or injury.
Among the synthetic drugs that were developed is Oxycodone. It was hoped that the drug would provide the benefits of morphine and heroin with less dependence. That is somewhat true. Oxycodone has a somewhat milder initial effect and the effect does not last as long.
We in the United States are the highest consumers of pain medications. Approximately 82% of all Oxycodone produced worldwide is consumed in the United States. Brand names include OxyContin and Percocet. Canada is the second largest consumer of these medicines.
Addicts crush the tablets, heat them and then inject the drug for an immediate feeling of well-being. It doesn’t last. And the need for the drug increases. The addiction is so strong that users think of little else and are willing to do almost anything to get their next hit. If they do not obtain another dose they go through severe withdrawal symptoms including anxiety, panic attack, nausea, muscle pain, fever and more.
The addiction brings with it financial devastation. In Fort Hope one OxyContin pill sells for $400 - $600. With the street price of $40 per tablet in Toronto, there is a lot of profit in transporting drugs into isolated places like Fort Hope. Recruiting addicts as mules for the drug trade is easy. Some addictions cost upwards of $2,000 per day. It is money that the people do not have. They literally sell or trade everything they have for the next hit. The addiction is destroying the community.
The crime wave and the state of emergency have resulted in increased law enforcement support from the Provence of Ontario. They are catching more drug smugglers. It is relatively easy to find the drugs at checkpoints in the airport or along the ice highway. The preferred trick of smugglers is to modify a Red Bull can into a place to carry the drugs. They have slowed the flow of the drug into the community.
The immediate short-term effect of increased law enforcement, however, is increased suffering. Interdiction causes the price to rise. Rising prices means more financial distress for addicts. Addicts take whatever they can from family members and friends in a desperate attempt to obtain the drug. Children are left without food in homes that have been stripped bare in search of items to exchange for drugs.
There isn’t much hope in Fort Hope these days.
Chief Harry Papah has now taken the extraordinary step of inviting reporters from BBC and other world news agencies to come to his community to report on the problem. Community leaders have come together to discuss possible solutions for the problem. Fund-raising has begun to increase the capacity of the detox center. Educational efforts have been raised. The number of people who are signing up for detox is increasing. There are a few signs that change is coming.
The people of the North Country are strong people. Their very existence has depended on the ability to live in conditions that others cannot imagine. They have developed courage and resourcefulness born of a harsh climate. Those virtues will come to the fore as they struggle with the challenges of this day. All is not lost, but tiny pills, smuggled in from the cities, will prove to be one of the toughest dangers the people have ever faced.
I hope that in years to come it will become the focus of story and legend and song as the elders teach younger members of the community the history of their people and the dangers they have overcome.