Opioid deaths on rise among younger Ontarians

TORONTO — A new study finds a steep rise in opioid-related deaths in Ontario among teens and young adults.

Researchers at St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto say one out of six deaths among Ontarians aged 25 to 34 was related to opioids in 2015.

They found one of nine deaths among those ages 15 to 24 was related to opioids. That rate nearly doubled since 2010, when it was one in 15 deaths.

Lead author and St. Michael’s scientist Tara Gomes said young people need more information about the dangers of illicit drug use and how they can get help if needed.

She said it’s time “to get past the stigma of drug use being among addicts” and be more open to providing access to the overdose-reversing drug naloxone in places young people might need it. That includes high schools, universities and music festivals.

According to the study, the overall rate of opioid-related deaths nearly tripled in Ontario from 2000 to 2015.

The study was published this week in the Journal of Addiction Medicine and also involved researchers from the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences.

It reviewed all deaths in Ontario in which prescribed or illicit opioids were determined to be a contributing factor between 2000 and 2015. There were 7,719 opioid-related deaths in that time.

In 2015, there were 733 opioidrelated deaths, and 97,381 deaths overall.

Among all age groups, one in every 133 deaths in the province was linked to the potent narcotics in 2015, up from one in 170 deaths five years earlier.

The study concludes by saying more resources “are urgently needed” to reach the younger demographic.

Gomes said it’s clear “this is impacting all of our population.”

“Naloxone is away of reducing harm if somebody has overdosed, so we need to be more open to providing people with access to this tool, even in environments like high schools, universities, music festivals — all of those different places where youth and young adults might frequent and might be using drugs,” said Gomes.

While those who die of opioidrelated causes tend to be older, she said it’s time to consider the way a 16-year-old might want to access health services that are different from a 40-year-old.

“They might be intimidated to go there, they might not know who to ask to access those services, they may not even be comfortable setting up an appointment with their doctor to talk about it if their parents usually set them up with doctor appointments,” says Gomes, an epidemiologist at the downtown hospital.

In 2015, there were 159 opioidrelated deaths in Ontarians aged 25 to 34, and 71 opioid-related deaths in Ontarians ages 15 to 24.

Gomes said “youth and early adulthood is when a lot of people do start to experiment with drugs.”

Street drugs that look like prescription drugs are often counterfeit and may contain Fentanyl, posing a greater danger to people who might be experimenting for the first time.