Growing number of people in Ontario treated for opioid addiction
The report released today by the Ontario Drug Policy Research Network said that despite these encouraging trends, opioid use patterns still varied widely across Ontario. And although opioids are being prescribed for pain similarly across all incomes, those seeking treatment for opioid addiction and those dying of an opioid-related overdose were still disproportionately from lower socio-economic groups. "The findings of this report suggest that recent prescribing patterns may be shifting toward safer practices such as dispensing smaller quantities of opioids," said Tara Gomes, a principal investigator for the research network and a scientist at the Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute of St. Michael's Hospital and the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences. "However, we still see important differences in access to opioids to treat both pain and addiction across the province and in certain low-income populations." Gomes said the report was the first to link...