Opioid drugs, such as fentanyl, heroin or even prescription drugs such as morphine, can take a toll on a community. As seen in many parts of the province, it can result in increased property crimes, increased policing costs, increased healthcare costs, and tragically, a loss of life as people succumb to overdoses from the potent drugs. 

Those who are habitual users of opioids, such as fentanyl or prescription drugs, can find the usage takes a toll on their health as well, but not necessarily in ways they would expect, according to Dr. Peter Butt. He is a consultant in addiction medicine with the Saskatchewan Health Authority. He is also an associate professor in Academic Family Medicine specializing in mental health and addictions at the University of Saskatchewan. 

"Chronic use of opioids can dry the mouth, which promotes bacteria and tooth decay, and so tooth decay is frequently blamed on the opioid, but its kind of a secondary effect in terms of the mouth drying," explained Dr. Butt. 

In addition, the method people use to ingest opioids can often be a cause of other health problems that aren't always top of mind for users. 

One of the common methods of using opioids, aside from pills, is by injection. This in itself can cause a multitude of medical issues that would affect the long term health of a user.

"They can introduce infections such as HIV, hepatitis C, they can get infections that go to the heart, to the lungs, to the bones, to the joints, to create abscesses, so there are frequent complications related to the mode of use," Dr. Butt added. 

Very often, the opioid which captures the attention in the spotlight most frequently is fentanyl, primarily because of the fact it can result in an overdose rather quickly, often for first time users, or those who are relapsing. Dr. Butt highlighted the abuse of prescription drugs is also linked to issues with opioids across not just Saskatchewan, but all of Canada. 

"When we look at opioid-related deaths in the province, the vast majority are still caused by prescription opioids, rather than illicit opioids, such as illicit fentanyl," Dr. Butt cautioned. "Although that fentanyl component is certainly increasing in the proportion of deaths."

In our next part of our series on opioids, we will look at those who survive overdoses, and how it can be a life-altering event due to the potential for lifelong medical concerns.