Fighting to reclaim life

She has large beautiful eyes. Deep dark pools that she keeps downcast for the most part. Every so often she raises her gaze and there’s a guarded defiance there. But soon you realize it’s meant to be a veil.
It’s a thin mask though. She is suffering. There’s something in her that ought to be carried by someone much, much older. That kind of grief should belong to someone who has experienced the trials and tribulations of a long drawn out life.
She’s young – only 20. And she has two children.
Rayanne Tait wants to finish high school. And she wants to be a better mother. But there’s something that’s taken hold of her and it’s greedy. It wants to take everything she has and steal away all the light in her life. It wants her undivided attention. It wants to become the centre of her life. And it knows it’s nearly succeeding.
OxyContin is a time-released pain medication. Its effects can last hours, up to 12, and it contains oxycodone – an opioid drug, like morphine or heroine.
When crushed or chewed and either inhaled by the nose, injected or swallowed, the oxycodone is released and absorbed rapidly producing a heroin-like euphoria effect making it dangerously addictive.
In Kitchenuhmaykoosib, an 80-milligram tablet can sell for $600. That can be a week’s worth of groceries for many, but for Rayanne it meant that she could have four fixes. Four opportunities to feel like nothing mattered. And four chances to stave off the effects of withdrawal.
Oxycodone withdrawal creates a deep muscle and bone pain. It’s like experiencing the worst flu ever and it can include restlessness, diarrhea, insomnia, vomiting, cold flashes and leg movements you can’t control. It’s a process that’s chemically similar to heroin withdrawal.
Rayanne started taking oxy when she was 15. Each 80 milligram tablet cost her $100 then. And after the first time, she just wanted more and more.
“It was my choice,” she said. “With both of my pregnancies, I was using everyday. I don’t know what I was thinking.”
Rayanne’s words are raw expressions. She wants to stop. She yearns to have her family’s trust again. But most of all she wants to be a good mother. And she says if she can’t stop abusing oxycodone then she’ll give her children up to children’s aid.
Her voice cracks and she stops speaking as the impact of what she’s saying sinks in.
She covers her large dark eyes with her hands.
Unfortunately Rayanne’s addiction to oxycodone isn’t unique. It’s a trend that’s been on an upswing for the past six years. Despite threadbare statistics, Health Canada has posted a fact sheet on its website titled Misuse and Abuse of Oxycodone-based Prescription Drugs. According to a study published in a 2009 edition of the Canadian Medical Association Journal, the number of deaths in Ontario where narcotics played a role doubled to 27 million in 2004 from 13 million in 1991. The increase in deaths was noticeable after Oxycontin was added to Ontario’s provincial drug benefit plan in 2000. Death related to any opioid increased by 41 per cent and the number of deaths related to oxycodone rose fivefold.
And in the United States, the Drug Enforcement Administration says about 1.9 million Americans have used oxycodone for non-medical reasons.
“Right now, it’s one of the most abused prescription drugs and is certainly the most dangerous,” a DEA official told Newsweek Magazine. In the Grip of a Deeper Pain can be found online at www.newsweek.com.
It’s a trend that spread into First Nation communities. And it’s destroying the lives of people like Rayanne.
In Kitchenuhmaykoosib, Chief Donny Morris says out of 276 homes surveyed, only four homes did not have a resident who was using or selling drugs.
But there is hope.
It’s a community-driven project that’s igniting hope for the hundreds of Kitchenuhmaykoosib members addicted to prescription drugs. With no start up funds and the sheer determination of a small group of volunteers, the Mamow Against Drugs treatment program was born.
“We’re taking ownership of the problem,” Morris said of the program. “These are our people and we have to take care of them. We have to give them hope.”