Posted on 10/01/2017 9:33:12 AM PDT by Kaslin
Editor's Note: The following column is by Diane Dimond.
Every action has a reaction, and every decision has a consequence. Remember that lesson you learned early in life?
A funny thing happened on the way to introducing naloxone to the world of drug addicts. Experts in the field decided this antidote to nearly fatal drug overdoses was a modern-day miracle that would save lives and help steer drug abusers back from the brink. Once saved, they opined, the addict could then seek meaningful treatment.
With that endorsement, the push was on to try to get every ambulance and law enforcement officer to carry doses of the drug, widely known by the name Narcan, which is a brand name for a device that delivers naloxone. Emergency medical technicians were given vials of naloxone to inject into overdosed addicts. Beat cops got nasal spray doses to administer while waiting for an ambulance. Both proved to be highly successful in bringing addicts back to consciousness.
Regulation of naloxone varies by state. In 2010, Quincy, Massachusetts, became the first municipality to require its police officers to carry naloxone. Earlier this year, New Mexico became the first state to mandate that each and every law enforcement officer be equipped with naloxone. And other states are broadening the public availability of the drug. Today it is not hard for addicts, their friends or their family members to get take-home doses -- with or without a prescription -- at doctors' offices, pharmacies or community clinics.
Without a doubt, countless thousands have had their lives saved with a dose of naloxone. But then what? Reports from the front lines make clear that reviving an overdosed patient does not lead the patient to suddenly seek a sober lifestyle. Furthermore, the widespread availability of this antidote has made many addicts feel invincible.
"We gave Narcan to one particular addict 20 times in one month," an EMT from a rural upstate New York town told me recently. "And the parents don't care. They just keep calling us to revive their kid."
Naloxone is amazing. It brings back to life addicts who look lifeless -- their lips blue, their breathing nearly undetectable. It works by surrounding opioid receptors in the brain, spine and gut and blocking the effect of narcotics. What the nonchalant drug abuser may not know is that naloxone also causes severe withdrawal symptoms, which all but guarantees that a user will be left with a massive desire to quickly find another fix to stop the pain.
In Ohio, where the opioid epidemic led to more than 4,100 overdoses last year, one emergency room physician has openly worried about the increasing use of naloxone.
"It's such a frustrating problem," Lisa Deranek said. "We're saving lives, but it's only temporary." Repeat overdose patients are common. "Just throwing Narcan on this opioid fire is not going to fix it, (but) I'm afraid the government thinks it is."
The National Survey on Drug Use and Health reports that in 2014, over 7 million Americans were struggling with a drug abuse disorder. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that more than a half-million people died of drug overdoses between 2000 and 2015. This is a complex problem to tackle.
Simply put, naloxone is not the panacea advocates hoped it would be. And for law enforcement officials, it highlights just one more societal problem heaped upon them to deal with.
"It's just reviving somebody who's going to go back and get high the same day," said Sheriff Richard Jones of Butler County, Ohio. "It's a war that we're losing."
The unsolved problem, of course, is this country's inability to effectively treat drug addiction on a broad scale.
Interestingly, as the nation's overdose problem has increased, so has the cost of naloxone. In 2014, the price was about $19 a vial. By late 2015, the price of a package of two prefilled auto-injectors had jumped to $900. By February 2016, that had skyrocketed to $4,500. The prescription tracking company IMS Health concluded that naloxone sales nearly quadrupled in recent years, from $21.3 million in 2011 to $81.9 million in 2015.
Think what bona fide drug treatment programs could do with an infusion of $81 million. Rather than spend that much money to slap a temporary Band-Aid on a problem, wouldn't it be smarter to divert at least some of those funds to programs that could help addicts wean themselves back to health? Seems like a no-brainer.
Yes, decisions have consequences. It's pretty clear now that sinking tens of millions into a path that doesn't reduce the number of addicts in America was more than just a bad idea. It was a mistake.
Yep. Unconditional surrender followed by occupation can do that for you. That’s what I liked about the Greatest Generation. They fought wars to win. Our wars are meant to not offend any body.
I sincerely doubt a connection with weed being a gateway drug to heroin. Also. at this point I doubt the connection between prescription drugs and heroin. What I think it is ,is a addictive personality with no long range life goals and they drift into heroin addiction. I think we should stop the Narcan nonsense. The only way addicts will stop is if they see another addict die in front of them. In my state, they are pushing safe injection sites and initiatives to stop them have been started.The government is fighting this by saying this is a public health issue, and initiatives do not cover problems pertaining to public health. All these safe injection sites will do is encourage more addiction. If they want to be a heroin addict,then they should accept death may be the result. It would sure bring down healthcare costs.
What you say is true enough though not complete. For many there comes that one day, no different than any before it, when they are desperate enough to go to any length to get sober
They replant them
Plus opium poppies grow wild in the mountains of Colorado
True words well said
Apparently you have never met someone who went to jail...you can get drug there you want
Those of us who have recovered from a seemingly hopeless state of mind and body
Germany hates us and acts against our interests all the time
Japan likes our nuclear umbrella
Watching others die does not change the addicts view point
“People are reporting from their communities that at least most known addicts started with marijuana.”
No, they started with tea, coffee, and beer.
Giving a narcan injection to the same person 20 times in one month is like MADD launching an initiative to combat drunk driving by giving every alcoholic a dozen free drinks at the bar and a ride home.
End drug dependency by ending welfare, requiring quality education and enforcing the law, particularly illegal immigration.
If watching other addicts die does not change their viewpoint,then they take the risk of dying. No sympathy here. Most normal people if offered heroin would refuse, knowing the outcome of what that decision would be. These addicts drift,have no caring for self, don’t want to be productive citizens. So, let them die in their addiction.
Mao solved the opiate addiction in China so it can be done...
The methods were a bit distasteful...
Just saying...
“How about napalming the poppy fields of Afghanistan for starters.”
However, this article discusses two of the problems I see with Trump’s push to “fix” the Opioid crisis.
Basically it’s about money, attention, and “curing” addiction: Too much money going to wrong things, too much attention focused on the wrong solutions, and there is no cure.
There is only the daily struggle of the addict - whether they are currently using or currently sober. It is a life-long problem.
Narcan is kind of a problem if recovery is the goal when you consider the mindset of an addict.
(Side note: I had a user OD on me twice within 48 hours. Narcan brought them back twice. They are uninsured so my County paid for both doses. They are still using to this day.)
——End drug dependency by ending welfare, requiring quality education and enforcing the law, particularly illegal immigration.——
I wish it was that simple....
In NJ lots of middle class white young people have gotten hooked and OD’ed
If you can, you save people’s lives. There is no good reasons for naxalone to increase in price the way it has, and it should be available where it can do the most good.
But what you don’t do is interfere with my ability to get an opioid pain reliever if I need it, and my doctor’s ability to prescribe it for me or other patients. A doctor has the education, training and license to determine who — in the doctor’s professional opinion — would benefit from the medication.
“People are reporting from their communities that at least most known addicts started with marijuana. Fast food restaurants”
Makes as much sense to say they started with the ‘fast food restaurants’ at the beginning of your next sentence.
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