@davidpakman I agree with you completely that it is a public health issue and needs to be addressed as such.

Warning don’t read if your not up for the bad!
I have seen too many people now fall between the cracks we call our medical system here in Canada. It is definitely not the drug dealers on the streets that created a demand but rather the pharmaceutical industry that gets people addicted to the drugs they can’t afford to pay for when coverages laps, furthermore the physicians don’t seem to correctly explain the need to wean yourself off of the drugs they prescribe you.

I personally have had an issue with this and antidepressant, was terrible for me but I lived. A few years ago now I lost my best buddy Tristan Watterworth to his battle with depression, they had put him on a combination of lithium and Saraquill(may not be spelled correctly) which is opiate-based knowing full well they were reactive with alcohol and he was a drinker and he overdosed because of it.

1 1\2years ago my brother Carl had a stroke, he was put on Fentanyl and after being clean from crack for 25 years he went back to it trying to smother the addiction he was left with after the hospital.

My other friend Ryan was run over by his ex-drug dealer after getting clean for 9 months, ended up being put on Fentanyl and again when released was not given the supplies to be able to wean himself off. Ryan Hill overdosed after I went out of my way to help him get off the streets for a second time, he was clean for 3 months and found out his body was failing him from Fentanyl abuse which he only had in the hospital!

Then there is my mother, who after her death I found out was schizophrenic somehow never told anyone for 20ish years. She died from heart disease caused from drug abuse and her autopsy revealed it was street drugs and through our research of her prescriptions found that she had not been given the correct dosages to wean her off successfully. So as you pointed out she was forced to go to streets and none of us knew any of it because of her mental state, very good at hiding her flaw.

In short I highly suggest everyone stays away from anything opiate-based unless absolutely necessary and you do your own research into how to wean yourself off successfully so you don’t fall between the cracks like some of the people I love.