Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Diane Rehm had a show earlier this week about the opioid epidemic and one of her panelists, in particular, was an advocate of making Narcan OTC. One of the other panelists was the Health Commissioner in Baltimore. It was an interesting discussion.
What is the long term rehabilitation rate of a heroin addict? What is the point of expending so much capital in artificially trying to keep someone alive who is hell bent on destroying and killing themselves?
I heard that many drug stores like CVS are making Narcan/Naloxone available OTC. Some
People are against this idea but I'm 10000% for it! I don't think it's a cure for this problem, but it's a step.
For those that may not know, Narcan (Aka Naloxone) is an antidote for opiod overdose. It's an opiod antagonist with a higher affinity. So you can actually reverse an opiod overdose! It's really cool. But they often come back very angry and attack you for "ruining their high".
BUT Naloxone has a short half-life, so it can wear off and send the patient back into an overdose, so sometimes you'll have to give additional doses.
Anyway, I hope this becomes a more mainstream/household name. I don't think there are many states that let people buy or carry this. I carry it because I'm EMS though
I am your polar opposite. I would like to see them outlaw Narcan and let more junkies OD which is the natural order of things. I believe one of the reasons opioid addiction has grown so dramatically is the taboo is gone. We need a lot more judgement if we ever want to make a dent of this problem
What is the long term rehabilitation rate of a heroin addict? What is the point of expending so much capital in artificially trying to keep someone alive who is hell bent on destroying and killing themselves?
It may be a matter of WHO is generally being impacted by the epidemic.......
The drugs are stronger in WV. They dry out and weaken in potency by the time they reach NE and the middle of America.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dport7674
Can't tell if this is a joke or serious
Totally serious. Detroit and Ohio dealers bring it to WV first because it's so drug addicted. It's their top market. Especially Huntington. Knew a guy from there who said some bars are not allowing people in with Michigan IDs because they're too often heroin dealers. It's something about how Florida pill dealers got the city addicted a while ago. For some reason they were transporting opioids through Huntington on direct flights. Those got shut down, so the supply comes from Detroit now. But Florida drug dealers got the city hooked.
The entire region is the epicenter of the drug trade in some ways. Ohio is a popular state for Mexican drug stash houses. They're selling it directly to Huntington, Cincinnati, Louisville, and I'm sure other cities too obviously. A big reason Chicago is so dangerous right now is that it's also a hub for the heroin market. Chicago, some parts of Ohio, and Detroit are used to distribute to the Midwest. But the strongest stuff seems to be coming to KY, WV, and OH first.
The "drugs dry out and lose potency" before they reach the rest of the country?
Lol. Nothing about that is true.
Ok not "dry out" but they get cut and cut and cut and cut with junk every time they're sold to a new dealer. WV, OH, and KY get some of the purest heroin in the country. Dealers buy it also, though, and they'll often cut it. Then someone buys it and cuts it more. The cutting can kill people depending on what it's cut with, but if it's not cut with lethal stuff, the drug is just a lot less potent. The user gets less drug in their system, while the dealer makes a bigger profit.
I guess I misinterpreted the original quote and drying out, but they do lose potency. Not because they dry out, but because they're cut.
I am your polar opposite. I would like to see them outlaw Narcan and let more junkies OD which is the natural order of things. I believe one of the reasons opioid addiction has grown so dramatically is the taboo is gone. We need a lot more judgement if we ever want to make a dent of this problem
Wow. Well you already said that we are polar opposites so you already know that I completely disagree, but I will respect your opinion.
But I just want to let you know that it's not just "junkies" lives that are saved with Naloxone. Patients with prescription opioids can accidentally OD on their legal medications too. This is common when someone has chronic pain and takes pain Meds over a long period of time. They naturally build up a tolerance so they feel they need to take a higher dose to feel the same effects. Doctors can even increase the potency/dosage of their prescriptions too. Or sometimes you'll have somebody in a lot of pain that feels they need to take extra and unknowingly takes a dangerous amount. I've only used it on addicts that OD'd on street drugs so far (I'm also still fairly new to the job though), but accidental prescription ODs are not that uncommon.
I actually just learned today that naloxone recently became available OTC in NYC. So we'll see how that turns out.
Last edited by That_One_Guy; 01-03-2017 at 12:07 AM..
Reason: Spel
This is so sad. I was also surprised that CA wasn't higher on the list (I'm in CA).
I was confused by the fact that DC wasn't considered a high-risk area, even though the change was around 30% in drug overdoses. That didn't make sense.
Not to offend, but is it possible any of the deaths have to do with poor emergency response or medical facilities? Is it possible less people would have died from overdose if they'd gotten faster attention, etc.? And some cities/states have better/faster response teams?
I don't mean to offend, I'm just trying to make sense of this.
This is so sad. I was also surprised that CA wasn't higher on the list (I'm in CA).
I was confused by the fact that DC wasn't considered a high-risk area, even though the change was around 30% in drug overdoses. That didn't make sense.
Not to offend, but is it possible any of the deaths have to do with poor emergency response or medical facilities? Is it possible less people would have died from overdose if they'd gotten faster attention, etc.? And some cities/states have better/faster response teams?
I don't mean to offend, I'm just trying to make sense of this.
I work in Emergency Medical Services. The problem most likely isn't poor/bad facilities. Naloxone, the opioid OD antidote, is really easy to administer and acts almost instantly. Opioid overdoses are so quick and easy to treat that you don't even have to be medically trained at all in order to administer it. This is why we're seeing more and more states make Naloxone available OTC recently.
As somebody that works in the medical field, believe me that I know very well that sometimes there are medical facilities or emergency response teams that are not the best, but I'm telling you that this stuff is so easy to administer that I really don't see how anyone can mess this up. Like I said earlier you don't need to be medically trained at all and can get it OTC now.
What you're right about is the timing. When someone ODs on opioids they stop breathing completely. You cannot survive very long without breathing. It may not necessarily be the speed at which the EMS crew drives or whatever, but what's more important is how long ago the OD patient was discovered. They are not able to call for help or administer naloxone themselves, so somebody else has to find them and then call for help. So if somebody OD'd and went an hour before someone found them and was able to call for help, it doesn't matter how fast the ambulance crew drives because that patient's already dead before we get there and there's no amount of naloxone or O2 or anything we can do to bring them back. This is why I'm in favor of making Naloxone available OTC in more states and also raising awareness.
So many plains states have low rates. I would have expected them to have the highest. Dakotas, Nebraska, Minnesota, Iowa, Texas, Kansas. The only plains state doing bad is Oklahoma.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
