A substantial proportion of opiate drug abusers in Canada are getting their fixes from doctors handing out legal prescriptions, according to a study in Tuesday's Canadian Medical Association Journal.

The five-year study examined the habits of nearly 600 drug users in Vancouver, Edmonton, Toronto, Montreal, Quebec, Fredericton and Saint John.

Heroin, once the drug of choice for most addicts, has been largely replaced by prescription narcotics like OxyContin.
(CBC)

The research found that heroin, once the drug of choice for most addicts, has been largely replaced by prescription narcotics, including Dilaudid and OxyContin, in most cities in the study. Exceptions are Montreal and Vancouver, which are major heroin import points.

The study's lead author, Dr. Benedikt Fischer of the Centre for Addictions Research in British Columbia, says the study suggests Canada's health-care system is focused on heroin treatment, when it should be targeting prescription drugs. 

"At this point, opioid addiction therapy, where available, typically aims at and thinks mainly about heroin, and is not really geared up or prepared to deal with prescription opioid dependence."

The study found that street drug users are abusing prescription painkillers that originally come from the medical system, rather than from illegal production and distribution, as is the case with heroin.

It suggests Canada is the world's top per-capita consumer of presciption opiates, and blames lax and inconsistent prescription drug-monitoring programs in the provinces. In the study, the researchers say, "this approach needs to be reconsidered in the interest of prevention."

Pat Carlson, executive director of Fredericton's two emergency shelters, says the study is no surprise and agrees the provincial government need to change its approach to addiction.

"There needs to be better controls. People are going from city to city, doctor to doctor," she said. 

The study shows the typical addict in Fredericton and Saint John is a white male in his early 30s, using Dilaudid or OxyContin. More than half of those studied don't have a permanent address.

In Saint John, where more than 90 per cent of those in the study use Dilaudid, a powerful opioid used to control pain, and 55 per cent use OxyContin. Both drugs are available with a doctor's prescription.

Carlson says she's seeing the same problem at the shelters, and it can't go on. She says it's about time a provincial drug-prescription monitoring program was created, to make it more difficult for people to get multiple prescriptions by visiting different doctors.  

Carlson also says drug rehabilitation programs need increased funding.

The study was funded by a grant from the Canadian Institute of Health Research.