Drug addicts turn to prescription painkiller

Press, 12 June 1986, Page 8

Drug addicts turn to prescription painkiller

The abuse of a painkilling drug, Temgesic, has become a big problem in Christchurch, says the police drug squad. The drug was obtainable only on prescription, but that had not stopped addicts from obtaining tablets illegally and using them or selling them to other addicts, said Detective Senior-Sergeant Paul Johnstone. Temgesic was fetching up to $4O a tablet on the street, and was often used in "homebake” drugs, he said. “There is a wide area of abuse right now.” Temgesic was popular with addicts and some young people, and was obtained by suppliers by false pretence or in burglaries, said Detective Senior-Sergeant Johnstone. Some suppliers were moving throughout New Zealand with false prescription pads carrying fraudulent references to.

hospitals in other centres, he said. In Christchurch, “the Alcohol and Drug Centre is being overwhelmed by young people using Temgesic,” says a recent Canterbury Hospital Board newsletter for general practitioners. According to the newsletter, the supply starts with an addict persuading an older patient to obtain a supply of legitimately prescribed Temgesic from his or her doctor. The patient is then persuaded to sell a card, which is then divided into tablets. In some cases, cancer patients who had developed tolerance to Temgesic were easily persuaded to part with the drug for a more effective bottle of whisky, said the letter, written by the board’s assistant medical superintendent-in-chief, Dr Anna Holmes. She urged doctors to control the amount of

Temgesic available. The alcohol and drug centre has been aware of Temgesic abuse since 1983. Many of the people who came to the centre for help last year reported that they used the drug, said the centre coordinator, Ms Daryle Deering. Eight of the 15 people who attended the centre in April had used the drug, she said. Temgesic, also known as buprenorphine, was an increasing problem because it seemed to be fairly easily available. “Occasionally people have reported that they have bought it from old people,” she said. People who had attended the centre described the drug as being as addictive as other opiate drugs, said Ms Deering. She would support any move to have the drug more tightly conand perhaps reclassified from a class t

to a class B drug. The centre’s concerns are shared by the Health Department. The Medical Officer of Health in Christchurch, Dr Bill Malpress, said the department was aware of the abuse of Temgesic and tried within existing legislation to limit that abuse. Educating medical colleagues about the caution needed when prescribing the drug was one way of trying to stem the abuse, he said. He had also heard of some elderly patients either intentionally or unwittingly supplying the drug into the wrong hands. The abuse of buprenorphine was wide-spread, both nationally and overseas, he said. Reclassification or restricted distribution was always an option, but any decision on Temgesic would have to be a national one, said DfeMalpress. ’p