The number of mistakes contained in almost every article I read published in mainstream media about drugs is seriously concerning, as is the tone and content of most articles, which are often alarmist and misinformed.
Today I saw an article talking about people overusing oxycodone. But in the article it says “his doctor prescribed MS Contin, a brand of oxycodone.” Then in the article there’s an account of someone who was prescribed oxycodone and apparently had some problems with it. He says: "It's evil, I call it that. It's a strong word, but I would call it that. It's that dangerous. It can kill you, you take too much it can kill you,"
How can a substance be evil? And stating that taking too much can kill you seems fairly obvious. I think articles like this highlight the dangerous lack of awareness which exists among the people who are taking these substances and the media which reports on them.
There seems to be a serious deficit in both awareness and personal accountability in many people’s attitude towards drugs. I think it’s time for a big shift in the way we as a society think about drugs, whether legal or illegal.
I know I’m preaching to the converted here, but I was wondering if anyone has any good ideas about how to increase awareness.
Also, what interesting, funny, or downright frustrating misinformation have you seen published recently?
Today I saw an article talking about people overusing oxycodone. But in the article it says “his doctor prescribed MS Contin, a brand of oxycodone.” Then in the article there’s an account of someone who was prescribed oxycodone and apparently had some problems with it. He says: "It's evil, I call it that. It's a strong word, but I would call it that. It's that dangerous. It can kill you, you take too much it can kill you,"
How can a substance be evil? And stating that taking too much can kill you seems fairly obvious. I think articles like this highlight the dangerous lack of awareness which exists among the people who are taking these substances and the media which reports on them.
There seems to be a serious deficit in both awareness and personal accountability in many people’s attitude towards drugs. I think it’s time for a big shift in the way we as a society think about drugs, whether legal or illegal.
I know I’m preaching to the converted here, but I was wondering if anyone has any good ideas about how to increase awareness.
Also, what interesting, funny, or downright frustrating misinformation have you seen published recently?
There are fears Australia is on the cusp of a deadly drug epidemic that is driving a record number of overdoses.
The painkiller oxycodone, also known as oxycontin or more colloquially as hillbilly heroin, has overtaken heroin as the drug of choice among injecting users, but the bulk of its victims are middle-aged pain sufferers.
The drug was once used specifically for cancer patients, but several years ago it began being regularly prescribed to anyone suffering chronic pain and its use soared.
While prescription rates for morphine dropped, oxycodone's rose 152 per cent in six years.
Trevor Gerrand used to work with disabled children until repeated heavy lifting caused a chronic neck injury. He now suffers from debilitating pain.
When regular painkillers were no longer effective, his doctor prescribed MS Contin, a brand of oxycodone.
Mr Gerrand says the drug left him in a haze.
"I was stoned, to put it simply. I had trouble concentrating, I was always wandering around in this half-awake half-asleep sort of daze. I really don't know how I managed to keep working at the time," he said.
After three years of daily reliance, Mr Gerrand made the decision to stop. He managed to cut his use in half and then after some months eliminate it completely.
But Mr Gerrand says he still worries about the addictive nature of oxycodone.
"It's evil, I call it that. It's a strong word, but I would call it that. It's that dangerous. It can kill you, you take too much it can kill you," he said.
"You can get hooked on it very easily like you can any other illicit substance. The difference between MS Contin and heroin and other opiates - one's classified as illegal, the other one's a prescription drug but they do the same thing to you."
Maryanne Jauncey works at the medically supervised injecting room in Sydney's King's Cross. She says two-thirds of the 225 people who visit the room each day use prescription opiates.
"So for every injection of heroin, there's at least two injections of prescription opiates and broadly speaking that's mostly oxycontin," she said.
Injecting centre at Kings Cross Photo: Most visitors to the King's Cross injecting room use oxycodone. (Paul Miller, file photo: AAP)
The drug is commonly abused by crushing the tablets and injecting them, and there is an active black market.
It is a lucrative business - one 80mg tablet of oxycontin can sell on the street for $50, meaning a box would be worth $1,400.
Dr Jeremy Hayllar says oxy often reaches the black market by sellers who go doctor shopping.
"The weekly Centrelink allowance of about $245, [so] there's a huge discrepancy so there are large incentives on some people to cash in on these prescriptions which may have been provided with the best of intentions but have been misused," he said.
Dr Hayllar works in one of Queensland Health's largest rehabilitation clinics.
He says many people do not understand the potency of oxycodone.
It is one-and-a-half times stronger than heroin, it reduces respiration, making it potentially deadly, and its effects are exacerbated by other depressants like alcohol and Valium.
"People don't realise that Valium, for example, has a very long half-life, so you may have taken a big dose of Valium the day before and you may relatively have recovered, however there will be at least half of that dose in your system," he said.
"So if you then add to that some opioids, it's not difficult to see how you can overdose."