Within the past couple of years, the Canadian government has taken a commanding stance against the opioid epidemic. In 2019, more than 100 million dollars in funding was provided to scale the production of life-saving measures, mitigate the impacts of illegal drug supply, and much more.¹ Opioids are a class of drugs intended to provide pain relief. With their ability to alter an individual’s state of mind and allow individuals to experience a “high”, there has been a disturbing rise in the improper use of these drugs.^2,3 Since 2016, over 9,000 opioid-related deaths in Canada have been recorded.⁴ With these numbers continuing to rise, there has been a heightened interest in the mitigation of this problem and the future steps that need tobe taken to further address this issue.

Public awareness is one of the most impactful ways to spark general interest towards an issue. In 2018, the Government of Canada introduced an initiative called ‘Know More’.⁵ Its primary goal was to generate public awareness, but a multitude of underlying messages were also conveyed. Sessions were held to explain what opioids are, to help people understand why we are currently in a crisis, and to also address the stigma towards drug users.⁵ The reach of this initiative extends to communities across Canada. Police and health care workers have advocated for a more transparent and coordinated approach to educating students, and this initiative is a step in the right direction.⁶ However, complacency is not an option, and we still have a long way to go in educating the Canadian population about the opioid crisis.

Another effective way to combat the opioid crisis is to explore methods of safe opioid prescribing. With 1 in 5 Canadians suffering from chronic pain, it is important that there are guidelines for healthcare professionals to follow.⁷ Safe Opioid Prescribing is one of the longest running opioid programs in Canada, and its goal is to ensure that healthcare professionals are staying up to date with the best practices for opioid prescribing and pain management.⁸ The program highlights the importance of dosage and its effects on opioid addiction. It also covers the prescribing of a variety of medications, illustrating the effects of what even one Tylenol tablet can do.⁹ The benefits of this platform come together to convey a simple message: “there is no safe dose of opioids”.⁹ Physicians and other healthcare professionals need to be cautious regarding opioid prescribing, so they can provide the best possible care to their patients.

Ultimately, opioid addiction has become a nationwide crisis, and education can be a good starting point to help fight it. Whether we are educating the general public or our healthcare workers, both can be effective tools for creating a positive difference.

References

Canada H. Government of Canada invests in new measures to address the opioid crisis and emerging drug threats [Internet]. Canada.ca. Government of Canada; 2019 [cited 2020Dec18]. Available from: https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/news/2019/07/government-of-canada-invests-in-new-measures-to-address-the-opioid-crisis-and-emerging-drug-threats.html
Canada H. Opioids and the opioid crisis – Get the facts [Internet]. Canada.ca. / Gouvernement du Canada; 2020 [cited 2020Dec17]. Available from: https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/substance-use/problematic-prescription-drug-use/opioids/get-the-facts.html
Opioids [Internet]. Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction. [cited 2020Dec17]. Available from: https://www.ccsa.ca/opioids
Canada H. Canada’s Opioid Crisis (fact sheet) [Internet]. Canada's opioid crisis (fact sheet) - Canada.ca. / Gouvernement du Canada; 2019 [cited 2020Dec17]. Available from: https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/publications/healthy-living/canada-opioid-crisis-fact-sheet.html
Canada H. Know More: Opioid public awareness [Internet]. Canada.ca. / Gouvernement du Canada; 2020 [cited 2020Dec18]. Available from: https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/substance-use/problematic-prescription-drug-use/opioids/know-more-public-awareness.html
Vancouver Police Department Recommendations for Combatting the Opioid Crisis [Internet]. Colleaga. [cited 2020Dec19]. Available from: https://www.colleaga.org/article/vancouver-police-department-recommendations-combatting-opioid-crisis
Safe Opioid Prescribing [Internet]. CPD University of Toronto. 2017 [cited 2020Dec19]. Available from: https://www.cpd.utoronto.ca/blog/2017/04/13/safe-opioid-prescribing/
Safer Opioid Prescribing [Internet]. Continuing Professional Development, Temerty Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto. [cited 2020Dec19]. Available from: https://www.cpd.utoronto.ca/opioidprescribing/
Navigating Opioids for Chronic Pain [Internet]. [cited 2020Dec19]. Available from: https://www.cpd.utoronto.ca/opioidprescribing/wp-content/plugins/safe-opioids-infographic//files/navigating-opioids-web.pdf

Education – The First Step to Combat the Opioid Crisis

References