'The monsters and opioids had her.' N.S. minister describes daughter's addiction
CTV
The scourge that is Canada's opioid addiction crisis was laid bare in the Nova Scotia legislature this week as politicians of every stripe rose to share personal stories about their struggles with this notorious class of drugs.
The scourge that is Canada's opioid addiction crisis was laid bare in the Nova Scotia legislature this week as politicians of every stripe rose to share personal stories about their struggles with this notorious class of drugs.
As members of the house of assembly prepared late Wednesday to vote on a bill aimed at holding opioid manufacturers more accountable for their actions, Progressive Conservative John White described how he became addicted to opioid painkillers in 2005 after he was struck by a drunk driver.
"I was in my own world," he told a hushed legislature. "I'd rub my face, and it felt like somebody else's face. Nothing around me mattered to me."
The member for Glace Bay-Dominion, a hardscrabble riding in eastern Cape Breton, recalled the moment he told his doctor he wanted to end his drug dependence.
"I remember lying in bed in a fetal position, and I didn't know if I was going to see the morning," he said, gently sobbing as he wiped tears from his eyes.
"I can remember hearing my eyes move like hydraulic pressure, and my eyes just swishing back and forth .... I remember hearing my fingers move like hydraulic pistons. It was an awful feeling. I remember I didn't know if I wanted to throw up or just shoot myself."
White, a volunteer firefighter and community activist, said it took seven years to deal with his addiction. "(But) there are a lot of people in Glace Bay, in Dominion and across the province who are still struggling."
