Heroin, Pain
Politicians Take Note – Readers Damn Opioid Summit
This week my e-mail nearly developed “Rigor Mortis” from the volume of responses to my column about an opioid summit. I recently told readers the government’s proposed opioid summit was a waste of money. I asked for their opinion. The majority agreed with me. But some labelled me barbaric, cruel and Godless for praising Singapore’s system of justice. M.P. writes, “I also saw the warning signs when entering Singapore airport. A poster showed a drug dealer hanging by a rope!” Another reader adds, “I’m glad someone has the balls to discuss the consequences of this drug problem.” From A.W., “My wife would swear I wrote your column. The only way to deal with drug dealers is death. Put them in jail and these...Read More
Heroin, Pain, Psychiatry
Readers Say “Cancer Patients Deserve Better”
Several weeks ago I wrote that Canada’s Federal Minister of Health had announced 100 million dollars would be available to fight the opioid crisis. In addition, it would now be easier for addicts in treatment centers to obtain heroin. But I argued there was no such easy access to heroin for terminal cancer patients in agony. I’ve received tons of mail from angry readers. From E.D. “I watched my Father die a horrible death due to cancer. He lost all dignity, begged doctors for heroin, as morphine did not help. A vet of the Korean war should not have suffered this way.” J.F., an English nurse, says, “When I came to Canada I couldn’t believe heroin was not available. I was told...Read More
Cancer, Heroin, Pain
Heroin for Opioid Addicts, None for Cancer Patients
Where is the common sense and compassion in this country for cancer patients who suffer in agony? I write this because drug addicts, who largely seek pleasure from opioid drugs, are now getting better pain control than cancer victims. And these patients and their families should be enraged by what is happening. The Federal Minister of Health (MOH), Ginette P. Taylor, has announced a 100 million dollar fund to fight the opioid crisis. She reports “This situation keeps me up at night.” I should remind her that cancer pain keeps many patients in agony 24 hours a day! What is more galling is that the government wants to reduce barriers that limit access to heroin for addicts in drug-treatment programs. Yet there...Read More
Cancer, Heroin, Pain
Heroin for Addicts? Or Send Them to Northern Canada?
How would I react if I were dying of terminal cancer and none of the current painkillers could ease my agony? Or if I were suffering day after day the pain of crippling arthritis and no medication relieved my misery? And then I read that addicts were granted prescription heroin to treat their addiction. I’d be damn annoyed that this painkiller was available for addicts but not for cancer victims and others dying in pain. Several years ago I wrote that I’d send addicts to chop wood in Northern Canada. That would surely solve their addiction. I thought I’d receive a ton of mail calling me a “Hard-Hearted Hannah”. But the majority of readers were overwhelmingly in favour of this suggestion! Just...Read More
Heroin, Miscellaneous, Pain
Who Says That Heroin is an Illegal Painkiller?
The Globe and Mail was wrong in a recent column about the insite heroin clinic in Vancouver, when it stated that heroin was an illegal drug. Its editors have forgotten that when I wrote for The Globe and Mail, I spent thousands of dollars placing ads in the newspaper during a campaign to legalize heroin. And that Jake Epp, The Minister of Health, announced on Dec 4, 1984 that heroin would be legalized to treat terminal cancer pain. But what happened after that? Obituary columns daily report that loved ones “passed away peacefully”. But this is a downright lie. Most people still die in pain. More palliative care centers are desperately needed in this country. In 1979 I wrote that English doctors had...Read More
Cancer, Heroin, Pain
Dying in Pain Is the Number One Fear
Woody Allen once joked, “I’m not afraid of death. I just don’t want to be there when it happens.” A world-wide survey by the Lien Foundation in Singapore recently reported the primary worry of the elderly is dying in pain. It listed England as the best place to die. Canada and the U.S tied for 9th place. As a physician I’ve always known that pain is the overwhelming fear, particularly for cancer patients. I’ve also known that heroin has been available in Britain for 90 years to ease the final agony of death. This knowledge triggered a visit to England to witness its use and to question why it wasn’t used for this purpose in Canada. I didn’t realize my probe...Read More
Heroin, Pain
Rights of Addicts? And Rights Of Cancer Patients?
Should the injection site for addicts in Vancouver be closed? Proponents argue that one million injections in Vancouver have saved lives and decreased the risk of HIV infection. Others contend injection sites send the wrong message and it should be closed. But in this heated debate why don't both sides and our government attack the root cause of this cancerous problem. First, how sick are these heroin addicts? I've no idea, as I've never treated addicts. But Dr. Theodore Dalrymple, a British prison doctor and psychiatrist, has treated addicts for years. In his book "Romancing Opiates" he writes that heroin is not as highly addictive as is claimed and withdrawal is not medically serious. He contends that a useless medical bureaucracy...Read More
