Prescription drug crackdown could fuel more accidental overdoses, Penington Institute warns

AUSTRALIA is on the verge of a new drug overdose epidemic as experts warn a prescription medication crackdown is set to send climbing accidental overdose deaths even higher.

AUSTRALIA is on the verge of a new drug overdose epidemic, with experts warning a crackdown on prescription medication misuse is set to send our already climbing rates of accidental overdose deaths surging even higher.

The fear is that when real-time prescription monitoring and new restrictions on codeine come into force in March, thousands of Australians already addicted to over-the-counter painkillers will move to harder drugs like heroin and highly potent fentanyl.

John Ryan, chief executive of the Penington Institute, which has compiled its annual overdose report for 2017, said: “When Australians ­addicted to pharmacy-based opioid drugs face new restrictions, there is a very high risk they will move to illicit drugs to sustain their addiction — risking death as organised crime syndicates turn to potent opioids such as fentanyl and carfentanil to profit from people’s misery.”

Penington Institute chief executive John Ryan,

The warning comes as Australia experiences a continuing resurgence in heroin overdoses and reports of the emergence on Melbourne’s streets of “Afghani brown”, a heroin sourced out of Afghanistan.

“The pipeline seems to have opened with the resurgence of the Taliban in Afghanistan,” one frontline health worker said.

For every death in a car ­accident, two people are now dying from accidental overdose, the report reveals.

Drug overdoses claimed the lives of 2023 Australians in 2015 — the latest year for which national data is available — and three in four of those deaths were accidental.

The Penington report shows accidental overdoses involving:

CODEINE, morphine and oxycodone are claiming 500 lives a year, up from 189 in 2003.

FENTANYL — a synthetic opioid 100 times more potent than heroin — continues to grow and claimed 221 lives in 2015, just 45 fewer heroin.

AMPHETAMINES now claim almost as many lives as accidental alcohol overdoses due to the continuing impact of ice, with more than 220 annual deaths.

PRESCRIPTION MEDICATION: THE SECRET ADDICTION COSTING LIVES

Pharmacist Sam Keitaanpaa with some of the codeine products that will require a prescription after February. Pic Katrina Bridgeford.

“The data illustrates that the real front line in Australia’s overdose crisis is often the household medical cabinet,” Mr Ryan said.

“Behind the catastrophe of sustained and increased accidental overdose in many parts of Australia is a nation increasingly dependent on opioid painkiller medications. These medications are often taken without any awareness of the potential overdose risk that they pose.”

The data, prepared by the Australian Bureau of Statistics, also shows that Australia, particularly regional areas, continues to be ravaged by the drug ice.

Mr Ryan said the report shows that the law and order war on drugs continues to fail Australians – with valuable tax dollars wasted on an approach that is clearly not working.

“Increased deaths as a result of ice, heroin and prescription medication are an alarming wake-up call to governments and the community that more needs to be done – and urgently,” he said.

“For every death there are many, many more people whose lives are out of control, who use legal and illicit on a daily basis, and who are going to extraordinary lengths to get their next fix.

“We need to encourage people in the community to speak up about drugs so that we can directly address the stigma and shame that holds the community back from taking more action.”

In capital cities and regional areas, Australians are now far more likely to overdose on opioids including codeine and oxycodone than by sleeping tablets such as valium (benzodiazepines) or alcohol.

Regional Australian’s continue to overdose in record numbers and middle-aged Australian’s continue to be over-represented with almost eight in 10 accidental overdose deaths men and women aged 30-59.

Since the early 2000’s the number of Australians aged 30 – 59 who overdosed has more than doubled from 540 in 2001 to 1,071 by 2015, the latest year for which national data is available.

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