Opioid Resources
Managing your opioid use is not something you have to do alone. We are here to help.
Your First Visit to the Clinic
This 5-minute video provides an overview of what people can expect on their first visit to an addiction medicine clinic.
Buprenorphine: A HANDBOOK FOR PATIENTS
The aim of this handbook is to help people better understand how opioids work, and why Suboxone can be an effective treatment for opioid dependence.
OPIOID USE DISORDER:
A HANDBOOK FOR FAMILIES
The aim of this handbook is to help families better understand and support a loved one with opioid use disorder (the medically correct term of "opioid addiction").
16x9 - Dying By Prescription: Oxycontin controversy (watch)
This 23-minute report from the Canadian news channel "16x9" documents the controversy surrounding Oxycontin in Canada.
Addiction 101 (course)
An online tutorial you might find this tutorial useful if you:
work in non-clinical roles in the substance use and mental health fields
encounter people with substance use or mental health problems, in any work setting
have friends or family with substance use or mental health problems
have a substance use issue yourself
Addiction Daily News (follow)
The Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction (CCSA) offers a daily electronic news service for the addictions field, containing a collection of news stories, media releases and related reports. Addiction News Daily is produced Monday to Friday.
Best Advice for People Taking Opioid Medication (watch)
An 11 minute Video on taking Opioids more safely (Dr. Chris Cavacuiti was a contributor to this video).
Cottonland (watch)
In this feature-length documentary, photographer Nance Ackerman describes the havoc prescription painkiller OxyContin wreaked in the already weakened Cape Breton town of Glace Bay.
Do You Know ... Prescription Opioids (series)
Pamphets in the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) Do you know… series present straightforward, easy-to-understand information about a variety of substances of abuse and their effects. The full list of substances covered in this series can be found here.
Drug Deaths in America Are Rising Faster Than Ever (read)
New data compiled from hundreds of health agencies reveals the extent of the drug overdose epidemic last year. Drug overdose deaths in 2016 most likely exceeded 59,000, the largest annual jump ever recorded in the United States, according to preliminary data compiled by The New York Times.
Effectiveness of Opioids for Chronic Pain (watch)
This video from Physicians for Responsible Opioid Prescribing (PROP) reviews that data showing that the use of opioids for chronic pain increased dramatically over the past two decades, despite low-quality evidence supporting practice change.
Effective Opioid Treatment Intervention (watch)
This short interview with Dr. William Morrone discusses the need for effective opioid treatment interventions including more availability of Opioid Overdose Prevention (a.k.a. Naloxone) Kits to assist Opioid Overdose Situations and better guidelines in assisting patients and physicians in stopping opioids.
How the opioid epidemic became America’s worst drug crisis ever (watch)
Painkillers now kill more Americans than any illegal drug. Here is why.
How to support clients with Opioid use disorder (watch)
Presented by S.S Addiction Consulting and Dr. Chris Cavacuiti (founder & CEO of trueNorth).
Making The Choice, Making It Work (read)
This comprehensive (and free) online booklet published by the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) answers many of the common questions people have about opioid agonist therapy (OAT) with methadone or buprenorphine (Suboxone).
Methadone Maintenance Treatment Client Handbook (read)
From the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH), the Methadone Maintenance Treatment Client Handbook is a very good place to start if you are looking for impartial and evidence-based information on methadone.
Methadone Saves Lives (read)
A website hosted by the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH). It has a lot of really good information on how Methadone and Suboxone work and debunks a lot of the myths out there about these medications.
Naloxone Training (watch)
This video takes you through a peer-based training for overdose prevention and Naloxone. It is put on by The Works in Toronto.
Opioid Drug Rehab (website)
The team at Rehab Spot publishes free online information for the community seeking to understand the dangers of opioid addiction and to connect individuals to local health resources. You can connect with a treatment specialist by calling 1-877-590-0332.
Opioids for Chronic Pain: Addiction is NOT Rare (watch)
This video from Physicians for Responsible Opioid Prescribing (PROP) documents how prescribers and the public have been misinformed about the risk of addiction when chronic pain is treated with opioids. This has led to over-prescribing of opioids and the worst drug epidemic in U.S. history.
Patients Helping Patients Understand Opioid Substitution Treatment (read)
This handbook sets out to answer some of the common questions that people have when they need help in dealing with opioids.
Personal Stories (read)
Personal stories highlight the experiences of people just like you. You’ll find stories from people who experience mental health or substance use problems, people who support a loved one, and people who work in mental health or substance use fields.
Recovering Beyond Trauma (read)
This guidebook takes a trauma-informed approach to recovery, exploring what trauma is and its impact on individuals, highlighting constructive ways to cope and available community resources.
Responding to Canada’s Prescription Drug Crisis (read)
This document was produced by the National Advisory Council on Prescription Drug Misuse in partnership with the Canadian Centre for Substance Use and Addiction (CCSA). It offers a detailed National Strategy to address the misuse of and addiction to prescription drugs.
The best opioid addiction treatment is more opioids (watch)
This short video does a nice job explaining the rationale behind Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT) for Opioid issues.
The Preventable Epidemic: How Harm Reduction Helps to Prevent Overdoses (read)
"We’re starting to see people looking at drug use as a health issue as opposed to a criminal justice issue."
Time Bomb (watch)
Produced by the Fifth Estate for CBC Television. Time Bomb discusses the OxyContin epidemic and how the pill has cost many Canadians a lifetime of addiction.
With a 10-day supply of opioids, 1 in 5 become long-term users
The longer a person uses opioids, the greater the risk of forming a deadly addiction. But just how long does it take to switch from being a short-term user—say, while you’re dealing with pain after a surgery—to a long-term, potentially problematic user? A few weeks? A month?