Prescription drugs third worst substance killer in Canada

By Sean Previl

The same medication some Windsorites take to help with illness and pain can also be a danger to their health, according to a recent study.

A study by Simon Fraser University in British Columbia has revealed prescription medication is one of the three types of deadliest drugs in Canada. The other two are alcohol and tobacco.

Sgt. Matt D’Asti of the Windsor Police Service said there are many reasons why this type of drug abuse occurs and why people turn to these drugs.

“It comes down to addictive personality, it comes down to availability and it comes down to people that are abusing,” said D’Asti, public information officer for the WPS.

D’Asti said the biggest issue in policing prescription pills is the relative ease of obtaining them and what is done with them afterwards.

“People will take prescriptions and go to the pharmacies with them to try to obtain additional pharmaceuticals and sell them at the street level,” said D’Asti.

Former president of the Essex County Pharmacists’ Association Timothy Brady said the dosages of pharmaceuticals are easier to regulate than street drugs like heroin.

“Pharmaceutical grade you can guarantee that when you buy pill ‘X’ you’re going to get this amount of drugs,” said Brady. “They’re still looking for that fix, the difference being in some way it’s safer because they kind of know what it is.”

Brady said there is an issue of determining who should receive medication has become an issue while preventing the abuse of these drugs.

“There’s a great deal of people out there in chronic pain that need treatment and you don’t want to make it so difficult that people suffer for no reason just because I’m assuming they’re using it illicitly,” said Brady.

Dr. Jim Gatrall, a former family physician, said doctors should be thorough in determining if the patient should be receiving the medication.

“(Doctors should) be really careful of who you’re giving the medication to, the reason you’re prescribing it, the quantities you give to people and the prescriptions,” said Gatrall.

D’Asti said the most important thing people can do is not abuse pills and not take medication they haven’t been prescribed.