NT trends in ecstasy and related drug markets 2011 : findings from the Ecstasy and Related Drugs Reporting System (EDRS)
NT trends in ecstasy and related drug markets; Reports; PublicationNT
2011
Made available via the Publications (Legal Deposit) Act 2004 (NT).
Date:2011; Australian drug trends series No. 80
English
Drug abuse surveys -- Northern Territory -- Periodicals; Ecstasy (Drug) -- Northern Territory -- Periodicals; Drug abuse -- Northern Territory -- Periodicals
National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre, University of New South Wales
Sydney (N.S.W)
9780733430206
Check within Publication or with content Publisher.
https://hdl.handle.net/10070/242182
https://hdl.handle.net/10070/610318
92 their doctor. Over one-third (35%) reported that they had informed their doctor about their drug use while 2% reported that they had reported some drug use, but not all, and 2% reported that the doctor was already aware of their drug use. Pharmaceutical opioids were prescribed mainly by a GP (88%), followed by a pain specialist (15%) and a hospital doctor (9%). Table 73: Pharmaceutical opioids use among people who inject drugs. 2011 (N=98) Used pharmaceutical opioids in the last 6 months (%) 81 Reason for using pharmaceutical opioids* (%) n=79 Treat self-dependence 44 Seek an opioid effect 6 Pain relief 63 Know what dose to expect 1 Cheaper than heroin 4 Current heroin purity 1 Couldnt score heroin 8 Refused pharmaceutical opioids medications for pain due to injecting history (%) n=78 Yes 28 Havent sought pain relief 42 Prescribed pharmaceutical opioids** (%) n=44 For pain last six months 77 Trouble obtaining pain relief from doctor 55 Informed doctor about drug use (%) n=43 Yes 35 Yes, but not all 2 Doctor already knew 2 Pharmaceutical opioids prescribed by*** (%) n=34 Pain specialist 15 Hospital doctor 9 OST specialist 0 GP 88 Source: IDRS participant interviews * Among those who recently used. Multiple responses were allowed ** Among those who sought pain relief *** Among those who were prescribed PO for pain in the last six months 8.4 Over the counter codeine Prolonged use of codeine has the potential to produce tolerance and create a dependence liability, often leading to dose escalation (Sproule et al., 1999, National Prescribing Service Ltd, 2009). The 2011 IDRS survey investigated reasons for use of over the counter (OTC) codeine as well as use patterns. As reported earlier (Table 3), two thirds of the NT sample reported the use of OTC codeine in their lifetime, with 52% using OTC codeine in the last six months on a median of 18 days. Only one participant reported injecting OTC codeine in the last six months.