Pubdate: Tue, 06 Apr 2004 Source: Chicago Sun-Times (IL) Copyright: 2004 The Sun-Times Co. Contact: http://www.suntimes.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/81 Author: Dan Bigg Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v04/n507/a02.html LET'S GIVE LIFE-SAVING OPTION A SHOT Congratulations to the Sun-Times and Roosevelt University for covering an issue that causes two airplanes full of deaths a year and is largely ignored ["Suburbs lead surge in heroin use" news story, March 29]. As director of an organization reaching heroin users of all ages, I have a couple things to add. We can effectively prevent heroin overdose deaths. While never using heroin makes it sure you won't die of overdose, a great many young people and others do choose to use heroin. For these people, there are effective interventions that easily can be expanded. For example, we have a program that teaches people how to effectively respond to heroin overdose. This program prescribes naloxone, a heroin antidote, which can be used by friends or family on a person who overdoses, quickly reversing the potentially lethal effects -- similar to the emergency use of epinephrine for severely allergic people. We have 218 reports to date of people being revived through this work. Medical personnel have been using this medicine (determined by the Drug Enforcement Administration to have no potential for abuse) for more than 30 years with dramatic results. It should also be added that heroin overdose is both a phenomenon of older people (late 30s to early 40s) and of those who combine alcohol and/or cocaine or pills with heroin (approximately three-fourths of the total). Twenty-three (6.6 percent) of 347 heroin deaths in 2002 were among people 24 or younger in Cook County. While there has been a huge increase in young heroin users, they are largely not the ones dying of overdose! What young heroin-addicted people say, to those willing to listen, is a scream to allow access to effective drug substitution therapies. The Illinois Department of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse estimates that 80 percent of the demand for such treatment is unmet in Illinois. Representatives David E. Miller (D-Dolton) and Sara Feigenholtz (D-Chicago) have introduced the Drug Overdose Prevention Act (H.B. 5033) to put this issue on the public health radar screen and increase our effective responses to the pandemic of overdose. This is a much needed and long overdue step toward protecting life. Dan Bigg, director, Chicago Recovery Alliance - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake