Data showing that prescription opioids are now accounting for more accidental overdose deaths than illicit drugs comes as no surprise to one of Dubbo’s top cops.
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The rise of drugs such as Oxycontin, Fentanyl and Tramadol has come at such a rapid rate that a report from the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre (NDARC) shows that accidental overdoses from the prescription painkillers had doubled between 2007 and 2013, with figures expected to keep rising.
An analysis of finalised Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) data by researchers at the NDARC found 68 per cent of the 668 overdose deaths in 2013 were related to pharmaceutical opioids – a far cry from the heroin epidemic of the 1990s when the majority of opioid deaths were caused by illicit drugs.
Orana Local Area Command’s Acting Superintendent Scott Tanner said as recently as last week, two overdoses to fentanyl were reported to police within the command.
He said users are gaining access to the drugs via people within the community who are getting prescriptions filled and then on-selling.
“Last Tuesday we had two overdoses, a man and a woman in the 25-45 age range,” he said.
“Both of those people are now recovering but it’s a sign of the increase we’re seeing in the use of these drugs.
“People think that because they are prescription drugs they are safe but they are addictive substances and the need for them becomes greater over time.
“You have cases where people get these Fentanyl patches, which are usually slow release painkillers, and extract the drug to inject it.
“By doing that they have no idea of the volume of drug they’re putting into their bodies.
“There needs to be far greater accountability from medical practitioners in giving out the prescriptions, but in saying that there is now data available that they can access which shows who is getting the prescriptions.”
The lead author of the NDARC report, Amanda Roxburgh, said figures show just how much the drugs are in our communities.
She added there is an urgent need for a national clinical guideline or an agreement among the states and territories on national measures such as a real-time monitoring program.
"We're seeing a real shift from illicit to pharmaceutical opioids implicated in these deaths, affecting a broader range of people who want to manage their pain,” she said.
"There's good research showing there's been a four-fold increase in the prescribing of these drugs between 1990 and 2014.
"I think doctors need to prescribe for a shorter time and have the patient come in again for a review before they prescribe more."
