Canadian Government focuses on the senior “Oxy” Addiction

It is strange to Canada’s officials that the addiction to Oxycontin, is not primarily with the younger generation, but has now hit the “Baby Boomers” quite hard. These are the individuals who have been good law abiding citizens, have raised their families, worked at professional jobs, and for what; an addiction to the most powerful drug on the market,”Oxycontin”! The Canadian senior addiction is not a traditional one, and is sometimes very difficult to spot, until it is too late. Much of the time, it is the family members who are diagnosing the problems.

It all begins quite innocently. Many older individuals have had an operation, an underlying back problem, migraines, or another type of pain related issue in which they have visited their physician to get some type of relief. The solution lies within the scope of this doctor, as to what type of drug he/she will administer. If Oxycontin is the choice, the patient should be thoroughly briefed on its strength, power, and addictive qualities, before leaving the office. Many of these older individuals will refuse “Oxy” and resort to a milder drug, or maybe even another alternative, like acupuncture, etc. However, for those persons who decide to take this drug, they must take responsibility to follow the directions completely and only take it when absolutely needed. On the other hand, their physician must carefully monitor them making sure that this drug is not producing adverse and/ or addictive symptoms.  There is less chance of addiction if the patients and doctors work together on this matter. Of course, there are those other “Baby Boomers” that when refused by a doctor, will just visit another and another, until they get the medicine to “kill their pain”. For these individuals, the chance of addiction is extremely high.

Yes, the Canadian senior element is legally taking Oxycontin, and legally becoming addicted to it.  The addiction usually does not take these individuals to the street; however they travel from doctor to doctor to attempt to get more “Oxy”. Some succeed and become more addicted, whereas others do not and acknowledge that they have an addiction and get help.