Dr Colin O’Gara outlines the symptoms and most effective treatments for codeine addiction and examines how availability controls can affect the incidence of dependency problems in the patient population.
Addiction services within the Irish psychiatric system have traditionally been dominated by presentations of illicit substance abuse. An increasing number of newspaper articles in Ireland, however, have highlighted the rising problem of codeine abuse and addiction.
In our specialist addiction services for illicit and over-the-counter (OTC) medication abuse at Saint John of God Hospital, we have certainly witnessed a substantial increase in presentations for codeine addiction. Yet the problem is a global one. In 2007, the International Narcotics Board (INB) noted that: “The abuse and trafficking of prescription drugs is set to exceed illicit drug abuse.”
Source: Irish Medical Times,18/03/2011
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