Writing for the reader-funded site rabble.ca with the help of a Canadian Institutes for Health journalism award, Ann Silversides is devoting a four-part series to Canada’s prescription drug problem, declaring the country to be a “world leader in prescription drug abuse.” Canada’s pill problem hasn’t hit the headlines with the vehemence it has in the states, but Silversides says evidence points to Canadian drug abuse that’s every bit as damaging as what’s happening south of their border.
Photo by jypsygen via Flickr.In the U.S., prescription opioids have been the leading cause of unintentional overdose deaths — far surpassing cocaine and heroin — since about 2001. The same is true in Canada, if the statistics from Ontario hold true for the rest of the country. (There is a striking lack of research in the area of prescription drug misuse in Canada, especially about the progression from use to abuse of these drugs.)
Yet in 2008, Canada had the highest rate per capita consumption of oxycodone in the world, surpassing even the United States, according figures from the International Narcotics Control Board.
The second installment in the series zeroes in on a specific Ontario inquest into two opiate overdose deaths, one which promises to shine a bright light on the nation’s broader struggle with the prescription drug abuse epidemic. Other articles in the series:
