Overview of Opiate Overview of Opiate AddictionAddiction

Overview of Opiate Overview of Opiate AddictionAddiction

• Conflict of interest – 2 talks for Purdue about dangers of opioid addiction

• Bias – support patients in both abstinence and methadone – but seeing more stability on MMT

Opioid Addiction in Canada

• Until 1990’s, heroin was the major opiate – mainly in coastal cities

• At the same time -• Pain clinics were gaining acceptance for

more opioid prescribing for pain• Shortage of physicians – no longer one

physician who knew his patients well over years of service

Then….• Mid 1990’s – oxycontin produced, with

major marketing campaign• Newfoundland had major “epidemic” of

oxycontin addiction, which travelled westward – also widespread abuse of other prescription opioids

• In Ontario, aboriginal communities were particularly affected

Canada - World Leader

Where Are These Drugs Going?

Sad but True• Physicians and prescriptions are

part of the problem! • Prescription opioids have

surpassed heroin as the primary narcotic of abuse….Canadian Opioid Guideline

Opioid Addiction in Winnipeg

• Rare – some T & R addiction in the inner city – and codeine addiction

• 2005 – assessed ~20 patients with opioid addiction

• 2009 – assessed over 300 patients

Methadone Resources• Until summer 2008, no wait list

• Now wait list at AFM methadone clinic is over 150 patients – wait time is months

• 2 other clinics providing services

Access to Methadone

• Brandon – wait list, new doctor starting • Rural Manitoba – no MMT providers• Comparisons• MMT in Manitoba ~ 700• MMT in Saskatchewan ~ 2000• MMT in Ontario ~ 24,000

Does Access Matter?• Patients in treatment often

improve dramatically Patients on wait lists deteriorate

(health and social consequences) and may die

• Crime decreases with treatment access

Typical Patient in 2007-2008

• Wave 1 – Suburban• Middle-class male aged 17-30, with

supports in regards to family, education, work, finances – using oxycontin, usually snorting - in significant trouble after 6-24 months of use with debt, some crime, estranged family, failing at school or work

• Most stabilize rapidly

• They become tax-payers!

Demographics Evolve• Wave 2 – inner city – more use of

morphine and dilaudid - more injection use – multiple family members may use together (high rates of Hep C, some HIV)

Family Tree

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• Treatment is more difficult because of chaotic lives

• The opioid addiction responds but many are repeatedly “knocked down by life”

• Past trauma issues resurface

Northern Ontario Reserves

• “I just admitted two young oxy-mothers…….the opioid wave has hit these communities like a tsunami”

Dr M.D• What’s going to happen in

Manitoba? Who’s doing prevention?.

And in 2010…• Ongoing oxycontin – now progressing

to fentanyl with several deaths• More rural patients• More chronic pain patients with

addiction• More Women....and more babies• More aboriginal patients

Harm and Injection Use• Increasing rates of HIV in

Manitoba

• IV drug use is a factor

Harm- Pregnancy and Families

• Increasing numbers of addicted mothers- diagnosed on the labor floor

• Babies require many days of care – and most are apprehended

Codeine• Canada is the only developed country to sell

over the counter codeine

• 80% of those addicted are female with a history of early life difficulties

• In their teens or twenties, they try T1’s or T3’s, and get a feeling of positivity and energy

Codeine• After about 10 years, patients face

increasing consequences – increasing dysfunction

• When we see them, they are using:• 50-100 tylenol 1’s per day • 20-50 tylenol 3’s per day• adding benzo’s or gravol

Talwin• Poor analgesic – T’s and R’s are a

problem only in the prairie cities – “poor man’s speedball”

Slow death from talc lung

This is a combined stimulant/opioid addiction – methadone might bring stability

Percocet• 5 mg oxycodone – widely available• • Oxycodone has surpassed marijuana

as teenagers’ experimental drug of choice in the U.S.

• Swallow, chew, or snort – gateway to oxycontin

Oxycontin

• Oxycontin: comes in 10, 20, 40, 80 mg strengths. It can be chewed, snorted, or injected – then it is a rapid intense high

• “ Safe and fun”

Oxycontin….• Often minimal alcohol or cocaine –

only the oxy matters Street benzo’s help withdrawal • "I don’t even get high anymore..”• Use ranges from 80-600 mg/day• Costs 50 cents or more per

milligram

Morphine and Dilaudid• Injection use is more common with

these

• Not much dilaudid use in Winnipeg, but increasing

Fentanyl • Often cut up into “chiclets” and

used orally

• Many reports of respiratory arrest and several deaths after injection use

Benzodiazepines• Benzo’s are a problem too –

widely sold • Ashton manual – how to get

people off (download from internet)

Abstinence and Success Rates

• Doctors – 90% abstinent• Long term, street-hardened – 3%

abstinent

• In Winnipeg – only a few successfully abstinent – over 90% relapse

Relapse is the Norm• The death rate is higher in abstinence-based

treatment, because tolerance is lost and accidental (or deliberate) overdose occurs

• Drugs are so available on the street – or by prescription - relapse is easy

• “my best friend is my neighbor – and my dealer!”

• Currently no long-term follow-up program to support abstinence

Methadone • Reasonable to use as first

treatment approach, especially in unstable lives

Methadone - Goals1. Survival and stability2. Stop opioids, stop injecting3. Stop other drugs4. Grow emotionally, develop success

in life5. Consider weaning off, ONLY if

appropriate

It’s Not Just a Substitute Drug

1. They feel normal – energy goes into creating a life

2. Tight rules and consequences = structure3. Relationships with staff promote maturity

and emotional skills

The patient is still on an opioid but the addictive behaviour lessens or disappears.

Methadone - Outcomes

• 30% do very well• 30% markedly improved, still

problems• 30% somewhat improved

• 10% wean off or leave yearly

Methadone – if not done well…

• Death • Diversion• Dispensing errors• Inappropriate patients in treatment• Physician norms can change • Education, support of colleagues,

College oversight are all necessary

Suboxone ( a “milder” methadone)

• SUBOXONE - It has less side effects, and is much safer -

and it’s easier to wean off• In use in Europe for 10 years – too expensive

for Canada?

• If you do the online course at www.suboxonecme.ca you can apply for a combined methadone/suboxone exemption

Financial Impact• Cost of treatment – in methadone clinic,

about $3000 per patient per year – in “methadone only clinic” about $1,000 per year

• Cost of an untreated heroin addict - $44,000 per year – costs include health, family services, incarceration, crime

Human Impact• Most patients in methadone programs

“get their life back” – almost all of my “young suburban” patients are back at school or work within a few months

• Patients not in treatment suffer financially and socially - risk of legal consequences and debt and family breakdown are huge

Challenge Stigma • Preconceived ideas about addicts,

treatment, hopelessness

• Methadone - Hard Work and Good Outcomes Go Unrecognized

So….• Support methadone clinics and patients in

your community or hospital

• Consider becoming part of the prescribing network

• -full clinic• -general practice following stable patients• -hospitalist

Methadone Saves Lives