Thank you, Mr. Chair and members of the committee.
My name is Lorinda Strang and I'm the executive director of the Orchard Recovery Center on Bowen Island, which is a private drug and alcohol treatment centre in B.C. I'm also the co-founder of Faces and Voices of Recovery Canada, and I helped initiate the first Recovery Day in Canada. I'm also a person in long-term recovery. For me, that means I haven't used drugs or alcohol for over 24 years. I'm passionate about speaking openly about my long-term recovery, as it helped me change my life for the better. I've made it my life's work to make it possible for others to do the same.
My work at the Orchard puts me face to face with those who have suffered the extreme consequences of prescription drug abuse and misuse, which include loss of health, careers, and families, and the loss of dignity and self-respect. I'm also witness to the absolute joy and beauty of those who find recovery.
Today I'd like to speak on two points: monitoring surveillance, and then reducing the stigma of addiction and celebrating recovery.
I believe quite strongly that in all proceedings, people who are in early recovery should be listened to as well as people in long-term recovery. I make the distinction, because people in early recovery who we see at the treatment centre are usually in their first 42 to 90 days going into their first year of recovery, and they're often fresh in the pain and the throes of detox.
I believe that data should be collected from treatment centres and shared nationally. Attached is a sample letter of drug trends that we collected just from 2010 to 2013 and the first month of this year from the Orchard Recovery Center. I believe that a national data centre for reporting should be implemented. Treatment centres could volunteer to sign in and report to an online registry. I think that would be quite easy for us to do and to give data and information.
I know that there are some new CareCards out there now with photo ID, and I believe this should be mandatory. Currently, patients, I believe, should show ID when seeing the doctor and again when they pick up their prescriptions from the pharmacy. I believe that there should be more communication between the doctors and the pharmacies to reduce fraud. I know that they have started doing some computer-printed prescriptions. What I hear from the addicts we treat is that there's a lot of fraud going on with prescription pads. This is right from the mouths of some of the younger clients. If the doctors could use a special ink or a different colour of pen, it would make it more difficult for them.
How to protect yourself from medication fraud? I think that a monthly or weekly sheet could be sent out to all pharmacies, physicians, dentists, and veterinarians. I believe that the treatment centres could be giving valuable tips on what the current trends are for how a lot of the younger patients are actually committing fraud to get their prescriptions.
I've attached a few sample letters written by some of our alumni. One is “A Drug Fiend's Manifesto”, which he wrote to all doctors as an anonymous letter. That client is now eight years clean from OxyContin. Letters from patients during and after detox from OxyContin are attached, and quotes and suggestions from those in early recovery. I've also attached a current example of drug trend reporting to show what kind of data you could be collecting from treatment centres.
In closing, I would just like to say I also believe strongly that reducing the stigma of addiction and celebrating recovery is of vital importance. Sharing our stories helps others reach out for help. Advocacy and awareness campaigns support three of the action streams in the “First Do No Harm” report. They help support prevention, education, and treatment.
Faces and Voices of Recovery Canada envisions a world in which recovery from addiction is both commonplace and a celebrated reality, a world where no person will ever feel shame when reaching out for help. This includes family members, who often feel shame and are afraid to reach out for help for their families.
Initiatives such as Recovery Day, and Faces and Voices of Recovery Canada keep our country engaged in a national conversation. In only two years, Recovery Day events have spread to 12 cities in Canada, with thousands of Canadians coming out to celebrate and show our country that recovery works.
Faces and Voices of Recovery Canada is dedicated to mobilizing the millions of Canadians in recovery from addiction along with their friends, families, and allies. We believe that our stories have power. When speaking on the national prescription drug crisis in our country, we need people who are in long-term recovery from prescription drug abuse to come out and share their stories. That helps other people. It shows families that there's hope and that there is a way out of this.
I believe a national framework for action for the prescription drug crisis has been completed by the CCSA, led by Michel Perron, in the First Do No Harm report, and I ask the Government of Canada to do whatever is necessary for the five action streams to be acted upon.
Thank you.