Members of the community gathered at the Bookshelf cinema here on Nov. 6 for the premiere of a collaborative video project outlining the rising issue of fentanyl abuse and the new Patch-for-Patch program to combat it.
The video, a joint project between the County of Wellington and the Wellington-Guelph Drug Strategy, was inspired by work done in North Bay to address fentanyl misuse.
The six-minute film shares the story of a recovering fentanyl addict, along with comments from Dr. Nicola Mercer, medical officer of health for Wellington, Dufferin and Guelph, and the Guelph and North Bay police.
The officers and youth in the video appear anonymously.
“I started experimenting with prescription drugs I found at home,” the 18-year-old recalls. “I found Percoset and started using it. My tolerance increased so I needed something stronger to take so I moved on to OxyContin and then I discovered fentanyl. At my worst I used 250mg a day – that’s three times the recommended dosage.”
Fentanyl is an opioid originally used as an operating room drug. It is now given to patients experiencing severe or chronic pain.
The patch format allows a slow continuous dosage of the drug for up to 72 hours, blocking pain receptors and creating feelings of relaxation and euphoria through increased levels of dopamine in the brain.
Due to increased restriction on drugs such as OxyContin, fentanyl has increased in popularity in the street drug trade. A 100mg patch can sell for up to $500 dollars, with pieces going for $25 each.
A drug sergeant with the Guelph police featured in the video says, “Each [piece] has a different amount of the active drug in it and as a result is completely unpredictable. Like all street drugs, they are a commodity … so someone who has fentanyl patches available to them can either use them or sell them for other drugs such as crack cocaine, crystal meth and heroin.”
On the street, fentanyl is often cut with cocaine or heroin to increase the effect of the drug. Patches may also be eaten or smoked.
“In the last 10 years there’s been a very big increase in the use of prescription drugs for recreational purposes,” says Adrienne Crowder, manager at the Wellington County Drug Strategy. “In 1999, one in 25 deaths in the age group 24 to 35 were related to opioids. In 2010 it was 1 in 8 … That’s the reason we’re here today, to try and find some ways within our community to help address that problem.”
In essence, the Patch-for-Patch program opens up communication links between patients, doctors and pharmacists. Those with a fentanyl prescription are asked to return used patches to the pharmacy when renewing their prescription before receiving more medication. Because used patches still contain a quantity of the active drug, this prevents fentanyl from falling into the wrong hands.
Physicians are asked to only prescribe 10 patches at a time – a month’s supply – and when these are returned to the pharmacy by the patient, they will receive another 10.
“When all the patches are not returned or they are returned tampered, that’s when the conversation starts,” says Lisa MacEachern, chair of the Guelph Pharmacist Association. “This is not a punitive measure, it’s a measure for helping people with a potential drug addiction and to help keep these drugs off the street. The success of the program is in its simplicity.”
On Oct. 23, Vic Fedili, Nipissing MPP brought forward a private member’s bill advocating for the Patch-for-Patch replacement program to become law.
Wellington County communications manager Andrea Ravensdale says she hopes the video will be useful in lobbying for the implementation of the program in pharmacies across Ontario.
“In order for the program to truly be a success, every pharmacy must adopt the program,” she said. “The county has always tried to think outside the box and this video project is certainly no exception.”
