From Pharmacists Letter
Looking at global morphine consumption from 2013, the largest consumer is Austria (203 mg per capita), followed by Canada (98 mg per capita), Denmark (86 mg per capita), and then the United States (80 mg per capita).3 In Canada, the 2012 Canadian Alcohol and Drug Use Monitoring Survey (CADUMS) reported that about 410,000 Canadians admitted abusing psychoactive pharmaceuticals in the past year, which has almost doubled in number from 2011. Opioids were the most commonly abused, with one in six Canadians reporting use in the previous year and 5% of them admitting to abuse.4
The good news is that opioid prescribing seems to be plateauing or even decreasing based on the data from 2011 to 2013.5
3. Pain and Policy Studies Group: Improving global pain relief by achieving balanced access to opioids worldwide. University of Wisconsin-Madison. http://www.painpolicy.wisc.edu/global (Accessed January 23, 2016).
4. Health Canada. Canadian Alcohol and Drug Use Monitoring Survey. April 8, 2014. http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/hc-ps/drugs-drogues/stat/_2012/summary-sommaire-eng.php. (Accessed January 23, 2016).
5. Dart RC, Surratt HL, Cicero TJ, et al. Trends in opioid analgesic abuse and mortality in the United States. N Engl J Med 2015;372:241-8.
Filed under: General Problems
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