OxyContin has become the biggest drug addiction problem in North America.
And even though there are thousands of lawsuits against the manufacture it continues to be prescribed by most doctors. This drug turns family men and women who have never had addiction problems into crazed addicts. OxyContin has destroyed and killed many young people who are unaware of its extreme addictive nature.

All drugs stay in the cells of the body for 6-7 years, they are out of the urine in a matter of days, but stay in the cells of the body for 6-7 years. Therefore the more you use the more you have to use.

Drugs are one of the biggest problems in today’s society; many people are destroying their lives because of drug use. This is a serious problem as the drug-use rates are increasing, affecting families and even communities. There are many narcotic drugs used for the treatment of pain, many of them creating dependence. OxyContin is one of them. Its opiate-like effect, extremely similar to that of morphine, makes it highly addictive.

In Canada alone oxycodone is found under trade names such as OxyContin, Supeudol, Endocet or Oxycocet. Percocet, for example, is a pain reliever which contains oxycodone in combination with ASA and which has been on the pain reliever drug market for many years. OxyContin started being marketed about ten years ago, with the approval of Health Canada, as a long acting pain reliever, in the form of tablets anywhere between 10mg and 80mg per tablet. People soon discovered that, OxyContin would offer a heroin-like effect if the tablet was inhaled or injected after being crushed or chewed. Because of its effect and the fact that mostly poor people abused this drug, OxyContin is also known as "Hillbilly Heroin".

In 2003 alone, there were over 2.8 million prescriptions in Canada for oxycodone drugs, the most popular brand being OxyContin. As a result, according to CTV.ca, there were more than 100 deaths that year due to oxycodone usage in Ontario and Toronto alone, where most of the drugs were prescribed. Between 1999 and 2004, forensic scientists have found out that, there has been a five to six-fold increase in deaths due to oxycodone, from 1.39 per million annually in 1999 to 7.17 per million in 2004.

Because of the increased number of deaths due to OxyContin use, in 2004, in the Atlantic Provinces, a task force was set up in order to warn the citizens about the health risks that OxyContin posed, especially in Ontario and Toronto. They started campaigns that warn people of the addiction risks, most of them being youth education campaigns. Although deaths blamed on OxyContin were increasing year by year, the number of prescriptions for the painkiller had tripled in only five years (2003 to 2008).

The drug was promoted in Canada though it had a high addiction risk. For that, drug makers Purdue Pharma and other company executives were found guilty of misbranding which is a criminal offence. They admitted that they have lied about the risks that were involved when taking OxyContin and that they promoted the drug although they new about the addiction risks. They were charged with more than $600 million. The Newfoundland and Labrador government is desperately trying to get back the millions of dollars spent treating oxycodone addicts, by suing Purdue Pharma.

An recovering addict tells us that the drug made him feel better, but that after a while the addiction started to grow and he started feeling that he needed the painkiller not only to get rid of the pain. By the time he realized that the drug changed him, he was addicted and had to get help.

OxyContin and Cocaine

One of the most common problems in Canada is drug use. The Canadian Addiction Survey (CAS) taken in 2004 shows us that one in five Canadians used illegal drugs in their lifetime, almost 4% having used the drug in the past year. 2.4% of them used cocaine or crack which is slightly more than in the past years (1.1% in 1989 and 1.3% in 1994). Cocaine is a highly addictive drug sold as fine white powder which can be sniffed or dissolved in water so it can be injected in the body. Cocaine is a nervous stimulant that offers euphoria and well-being for those who use it. Increased doses cause severe agitation, hallucinations, blurred vision, chest pains, nausea and fever. Cocaine can also damage the immune system. Crack is actually cocaine heated with baking soda in order to become solid and smoked. It has similar effects and it is also highly addictive and dangerous.

In Canada, cocaine use is a very delicate problem. In 1985 there was a 0.9% self reported cocaine use. In 1994 it dropped by 0.2%, going down to 0.7% while in 1993 it reached its lowest rate of 0.3%. The highest cocaine use rate was in 1989 with 1.4%. In the last ten years there have been little changes, numbers going up to around 2%. Men were 60% more likely to have used cocaine than women. Student drug use is also at an alarmingly high rate, in Toronto, 3% of students having reported cocaine use and 2% crack use. Also in Fredericton, 5% reported crack or cocaine use while in Montreal more than 6% of the students admitted to have used crack or cocaine at least once in their lifetime.

Oxycontin is also a very popular drug in Canada. Its heroin like effect makes it very popular, especially because of its cheap price, being also known as "Hillbilly Heroin". OxyContin was first introduced as a painkiller several years ago. Percocet, for example, was commercialized as a pain reliever. Percocet contains oxycodone in small doses. Oxycodone is a addictive drug, made to be used as an alternative to morphine. OxyContin started being marketed ten years ago, and since then it has been responsible for many deaths. In 2003 there were 2.3 million prescriptions for OxyContin and oxycodone containing drugs. Though 1.39 per million died annually in 1999 because of OxyContin usage, the painkiller wasn’t taken off the market. The mortality rates kept going higher until it reached 7.17 per million in 2004. Only then did people start to realize the threat.

There are thousands of OxyContin addicts out there. Many of them have become addicted because of medical errors, doctors prescribing these painkillers to ease the pain of their patients and without knowing how addictive they truly are. Purdue Pharma, the producer of OxyContin has admitted that the drug is very addictive and that they knew about this. For that, they have been charged with more than $600 million, though the damage is much greater. Many people now struggle in rehab facilities, trying to get rid of the addiction that is controlling them.