UPFRONT | From the editor Band-aids don’t cut it Much of the talk around solutions to the country’s growing opioid crisis has been focused on treating overdoses, mainly by increasing the availability of naloxone kits for first responders as a stopgap measure. Some have also suggested pouring more resources into addiction treatment centres to help those with drug dependency problems get better. While notable, these are band-aid solutions that will do little to ultimately solve and prevent the alarmingly increasing dependence on prescription pain-killers. Eradicating this health crisis surely requires a deeper and more compre-hensive solution than just a treatment protocol for victims after the fact. Many of those who have developed opioid and prescription painkiller addic-tion started out with some form of acute or chronic pain. According to data from The Canadian Pain Society, one in five Canadian adults suffer from chronic pain and is the most common reason for seeking health care. Up to 78 per cent of emergency room visits present with pain complaints. People living with chronic pain report their condition significantly interferes with their day-to-day activities and, ultimately, their quality of life. And yet only less than one per cent of total funding for health research is currently dedicated to pain research. The desperate quest to find relief from debilitating pain and the unchecked practice of prescribing opioid for non-cancer-related pain have all contributed to what has now become a public health crisis that continues to spread across Canada. There needs to be a national, more systematic approach to solving the opioid crisis that does not just involve makeshift solutions, but addresses the root of the problem. Yes, we need to improve access to and quality of care at addiction treatment centres, but we also need to increase funding for pain research. We need to equip first responders with better tools to prevent overdose deaths, but we also need to be better at training health care professionals on effective and efficient pain management that does not lead to drug dependence. The various health care professions need to be better at communicating with one another, consulting, drawing on each other’s skillsets and knowledge, col-laborating openly to provide a holistic approach to alleviating their patients’ pain problems. February 2017 Volume 22, Number 1 EDITOR Mari-Len De Guzman [email protected] (905) 726-4659 PUBLISHER Christine Livingstone [email protected] (519) 429-5173 • (888) 599-2228 ext. 239 ACCOUNT COORDINATOR Shannon Drumm [email protected] (888) 599-2228 ext. 219 MEDIA DESIGNER Brooke Shaw CIRCULATION MANAGER Anita Madden GROUP PUBLISHER Martin McAnulty [email protected] DIRECTOR OF SOUL/COO Sue Fredericks Published and printed by Annex Business Media, 105 Donly Drive South, Simcoe, ON, Canada N3Y 4N5 Publication Mail Agreement #40065710 ISSN 1488-6952 CIRCULATION e-mail: [email protected] Tel: (416) 510-5189 Fax: (416) 510-5170 Mail: 80 Valleybrook Drive, Toronto, ON M3B 2S9 Canadian Chiropractor is published eight times a year: February, April, May, June, July/August, September, October and December. SUBSCRIPTION RATES Canada – 1 Year $24.00 (with GST $25.20, with HST/QST $27.12) (HST #867172652RT0001) USA – 1 Year $35.00 (US Funds) Occasionally, Canadian Chiropractor will mail information on behalf of industry-related groups whose products and services we believe may be of interest to you. If you prefer not to receive this information, please contact our circulation department in any of the four ways listed above. No part of the editorial content of this publication may be reprinted without the publisher’s written permission. ©2017 Annex Publishing & Printing Inc. All rights reserved. Opinions expressed in this magazine are not necessarily those of the editor or the publisher. No liability is assumed for errors or omissions. All advertising is subject to the publisher’s approval. Such approval does not imply any endorsement of the products or services advertised. Publisher reserves the right to refuse advertising that does not meet the standards of the publication. MARI-LEN DE GUZMAN, Editor EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD @CanChiropractor Victoria Coleman, DC; Connie J. D’Astolfo, DC, Dip HA, PhD (cand); Pierre DesLauriers, DC; James P. Laws, DC, FRCCSS(C)(Hon); David Leprich, DC; Wanda Lee MacPhee, DC; Peter Moore, DC; Don Nixdorf, DC; Renae Rogers, DC; Greg Stewart, BPE, DC 6 Canadian Chiropractor February 2017 www.canadianchiropractor.ca
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