QUICK TAKEAWAY
Oxycodone, also known by the brand name OxyContin or Percocet, is a Schedule I narcotic under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act (CDSA) and comes with potentially severe penalties if you illegally possess or distribute it. Derived from the poppy plant, it is an opioid drug, like morphine, codeine and methadone, and can be legally prescribed to treat moderate to severe pain. It is one of the most abused painkillers sold in pill or tablet form. Oxycodone is often crushed, snorted, or injected for an immediate, intense high. Oxycodone can be highly addictive and, as a result, has led to an opioid epidemic in Canada. Because of that, harsh penalties can be expected for those convicted of possessing or distributing this narcotic.
Table of Contents:
What is Oxycodone?
Oxycodone is a Schedule ICommonly characterized as “hard drugs" narcotic under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act (CDSA). It was first synthesized in Germany in 1916 but wasn’t made available in North America until 1939. Researchers say it has been overprescribed, leading to an opioid crisis. Its use has increased dramatically over the years.
In Ontario, for example, prescriptions for oxycodone increased by 850 percent between 1991 and 2007, according to one report.
OxyContin was developed in 1995 and is a time-release form of oxycodone that provided long-lasting pain relief. OxyContin, which generally contains higher concentrations of oxycodone than non-time release drugs, became associated with abuse and addiction problems. It was removed from the Canadian market in 2012 and replaced with OxyNEO, a similar drug not as easy to crush for the purposes of snorting or injecting.
According to the Government of Canada (Opioid- and Stimulant-related Harms in Canada,) the COVID-19 pandemic has worsened the ongoing crisis of opioid overdoses and death. The government reported 1,705 apparent opioid toxicity deaths between July and September 2020 representing the highest quarterly count since national surveillance began in 2016.
Street Names for Oxycodone
You may know it better by its street names, which include oxys, blues, hillbilly heroin, kickers, killers, percs and roxies.
Effects of Oxycodone
Oxycodone targets opioid receptors in the brain, spinal cord and some internal organs to help to suppress pain. It can create feelings of euphoria or well-being. When properly prescribed and supervised by a doctor, it is an effective pain reliever. However, if you have a history of alcohol or drug abuse you are susceptible to oxycodone addiction.
Opioids can cause drowsiness, dizziness, mood swings, respiratory depression, coma and even death at certain doses. It can also cause loss of appetite, sweating, nausea, vomiting, constipation, and sleep apnea. Withdrawal symptoms can be unpleasant and include insomnia, anxiety, agitation, muscle pain, tremors and sweating.
If you crush the pills and mix it with other chemicals to get high you could permanently damage veins and organs.
Because it is a potent painkiller, oxycodone can be highly addictive. If you start out taking the prescribed amount, your body may develop a tolerance so you need higher doses to maintain the same relief. This is when the transition from use to abuse to addiction can occur.
Legal Status of Oxycodone in Canada
You are allowed to have oxycodone if it has been prescribed by a licensed practitioner. However, those who become addicted to it may take steps to illegally obtain it, such as counterfeiting or stealing prescriptions, “double doctoring” or “doctor shoppingVisiting several doctors to gain multiple prescriptions” or buying from illegal sources. Addicts will often turn to crime to support their habit.
Oxycodone is considered a Schedule ICommonly characterized as “hard drugs" narcotic and selling, possessing or production of it is illegal unless authorized for medical, scientific or industrial purposes.
Illegal opioids are any opioids that are made, shared or sold illegally and include:
- street drugs from a drug dealer;
- opioids received by someone who is not your health-care provider; or
- opioids that are not prescribed to you but are taken from someone else.
What is Needed to Convict
To find you guilty of possessing an opioid, the Crown must establish beyond a reasonable doubtThe standard that must be exceeded to find someone guilty that you were in possession of the drug. Remember that “possession” is not just limited to the idea that the drug was found on your person or in your car or house. Instead, it means that you had some degree of control and knowledge of the drug.
As a result, you can be found guilty of possession even if the oxycodone was found at someone else's house or in a friend’s locker.
Other basics the Crown has to prove is that the substance in question is a drug listed in the CDSA and that you had knowledge about its illegal nature.
Penalties for Oxycodone Offences in Canada
Drug crimes are generally distinguished as either possession or sales offences. If you have been charged with possessing a small amount of illegally obtained oxycodone you will likely face a light sentence for a first conviction. Selling or distributing narcotics come with much more severe penalties
It all depends on the specifics of your case. If you have been convicted of illegally possessing, manufacturing or distributing a narcotic you could be sent to jail, even if it is your first offence. Sentences will vary depending on how much you possessed and if there were any aggravating factors.
Since it is considered a hybrid offenceAn offence prosecuted either as a summary conviction or as an indictable offence, the Crown has an option to proceed by summary convictionUsed for lesser offences or an indictable offenceIndictable offences are more-serious criminal offences.
A summary conviction can bring a penalty of a $1,000 fine and/or up to six months in jail for a first offence. You face a $2,000 fine and/or up to one-year imprisonment for each subsequent conviction.
If the Crown chooses to proceed as an indictable offence, you face a maximum prison term of seven years.
If you are convicted of trafficking and possession for the purpose of trafficking you could face a minimum one-year sentence, with a maximum of life imprisonment (s.745 of the Criminal Code).
Under the CDSA, you can be convicted of trafficking if you âsell, administer, give, transport, send or deliver the substanceâ or if you âsell an authorization to obtain the substance or offer to do anything mentioned.â An exchange of money is not required for a conviction; transferring a controlled substance such as oxycodone from one person to another is enough.
If you have been charged with the import or export of an opioid, the minimum jail sentence you can expect to serve is one or two years depending on the amount of oxycodone involved.
November 17, 2022
Update: Bill C-5: Mandatory Minimum Penalties Repealed.
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Glossary of Legal Terms
Doctor shopping
Doctor shopping, also known as double doctoring, involves obtaining controlled substances from multiple health-care practitioners without the prescriber’s knowledge of other prescriptions.
Hybrid offence
Hybrid offences fall between a summary and an indictable offence. The Crown prosecutor chooses whether to treat the offence as a summary or indictable offence.
Indictable offence
Indictable offences are the most serious offences under the Criminal Code and they come with more serious punishments, up to a maximum penalty of life in prison.
Reasonable doubt
The Supreme Court of Canada has said that reasonable doubt “falls much closer to absolute certainty than to proof on a balance of probabilities” and “that something less than absolute certainty is required, and that something more than probable guilt is required."
Schedule I
Schedule I drugs are commonly characterized as “hard drugs.” They include street drugs such as heroin, cocaine, and opium and numerous pharmaceutical-grade drugs such as oxycodone and morphine. Schedule I drugs show a high risk of dependency. See Schedule I of the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act.
Summary conviction
Summary convictions are used for lesser offences with penalties, fines and short jail time. They reflect the majority of offences as defined in the Code.
