Prince George has an opioid crisis or so we are led to believe. According to the B.C. Coroners Service, there have been 16 such fatalities so far this year, in comparison to 18 deaths for all of 2016.
Why do we seem to have the need to label these issues as crises? What it does is create fear. It wasn't that long ago when ecstasy was the "in" crisis as well as crystal meth and even marijuana.
Now we have the opioid crisis. Let's start by the correct definition. An opiate is a narcotic derived from opium which is made from poppy seeds. Morphine, heroin, codeine and oxycodone are the most familiar.
An opioid is a manmade synthetic narcotic that mimics the effects of an opiate. Fentanyl is a common one. The word opioid is now commonly used for both opiates and opioids. Both are dangerous unless strictly controlled under a doctor's care. But there is a trend towards misusing these medications for an unintended purpose.
Physical pain comes to mind. Let's say you had painful orthopedic surgery which is always enormously painful or major invasive surgery which can cause extreme pain.
Every patient has different pain tolerance but most of the time your doctor gets it right and, in no time, you are fit as a fiddle. Sometimes, if it takes a bit longer to recuperate, you are put on a regime of increasingly weaker drugs to avoid addiction. You get help and life goes on.
Dr. Tracey Lotze was a guest on my radio show on Tuesday speaking about this topic. The South African physician and emergency room doctor is a no-nonsense, blunt gal and a darn good doctor. While, in her opinion, there are many legal and illegal drugs out there, she explained that the real killer we seem to be indecisive about is alcohol.
Dr. Lotze stressed there are many different causes of death due to alcohol poisoning such as fatty liver, cirrhosis, hepatitis, heart disease, pancreatitis and immune system suppression. Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome is a brain disorder characterized by mental confusion and loss of cognitive function. There are mental components as well as tremors.
The alcoholic, in most cases, is not alone and drags his family into a long and debilitating existence. How often do we hear about fatal car accidents caused by a drunk driver? You want to talk crisis? Then why are we not dealing with this seriously when it's right in front of us?
Just for the record, I am not a teetotaler and neither is my Jo. I do like a glass of white wine on Friday nights at the Oakroom Grill as we listen to music. Jo has one glass of Sangria. You will never see either one of us having more than two.
My dad, on the other hand, was an alcoholic. He was a really nice man and it was such waste to lose him to alcoholism. I am a big believer in Alcoholics Anonymous because it does work in most situations.
My question is why, as a society, do so many have the need to alter moods so much? North America is not the only place on Earth with such an alcohol problem. Is pain really such a bad thing on occasion? Doesn't a bit of pain make you stronger? What about the saying "suck it up, buttercup?"
Why does it seem that alcohol is often depicted as glamorous and fun? Have advertisements made us immune to the addiction which may be caused by misuse of alcohol?
I am not saying that the misuse of drugs is not serious. Many are more dangerous than alcohol and can kill you must faster. Sixteen fatalities seem very minor in comparison to the lives that have been lost due to alcohol.
Do you think that maybe we need to look at this issue and see what we can do to stop this horrendous, huge and very real issue?
