Fentanyl and heroin usage a result of drug monitoring, says outreach worker

An outreach worker in Halifax said more drug addicts are taking heroin and fentanyl because they're no longer able to get prescription opioids from their doctors.

Natasha Touesnard, who works for Mainline Needle Exchange and Direction 180, believes stricter enforcement of the prescription-drug monitoring program in Nova Scotia is to blame.

She believes the recent clamp down is forcing clients to take harder street drugs such as heroin and fentanyl.

"I think it does the opposite of what the government is trying to do," said Touesnard.

Heroin on the rise

Touesnard said each week at least one or two new clients disclose they've turned to heroin — a drug that both Mainline and Direction 180 haven't heard much about before now in Halifax.

Mainline's program director Diane Bailey has been with the organization for 25 years. She has seen "pockets" of heroin in the past, but she said it was "nothing like this."

Touesnard's bigger concern is that people are buying drugs laced with fentanyl.

"People that use are creative. They find other means to get high. I don't think we'll ever solve addiction through prescription monitoring," Touesnard said.

'Unintended consequences'

Since the prescription monitoring program launched in 2005, it has come under fire for not being strict enough.

Last winter, the case of Dr. Sarah Jones sparked a review after she was charged with trafficking 50,000 OxyNeo and oxycodone pills. 

In 2012, the auditor general made 17 recommendations, after detecting weaknesses in the program that could allow abuse or misuse of prescription drugs to go undetected.

The program's manager, Kevin Lynch, concedes that policy changes could create other challenges.

"I know the organizations we work with actively, the topic of unintended consequences is certainly part of those discussions," he said. 

"I think you're looking at access to treatment and working with prescribers to identify someone who may need additional support and how they might provide that support going forward."

Opioid epidemic

At Ledgehill Treatment and Recovery Centre in the Annapolis Valley, executive director George Goldberger is also hearing about the impact of stricter drug monitoring. 

"There are many individuals who went to three [to] four doctors and got different prescriptions. I know the pharmacies are a lot tougher today because we deal with pharmacies, so they've really tightened things up on that and they do report to each other," he said.

Goldberger said that's not a bad thing, but he would like to see the focus shift to better addictions programming.

Michael Parkinson of the Waterloo Region Crime Prevention Council agrees prescription monitoring isn't the only solution.

"For people who may be suddenly cut off because a pharmacist or a physician has been identified as a high prescriber, they turn to another drug," he said.

"It's like going to the grocery store. If one loaf of bread isn't available, there are 15 other choices on the shelf. That's precisely what happens with opioids."