Pubdate: Mon, 19 Nov 2007
Source: Boston Globe (MA)
Copyright: 2007 Globe Newspaper Company
Contact:  http://www.boston.com/globe/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/52
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topic/Narcan
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?132 (Heroin Overdose)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/hr.htm (Harm Reduction)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?137 (Needle Exchange)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/rehab.htm (Treatment)

LIFELINE FOR ADDICTS

IN 2005, 544 people in Massachusetts died as a result of overdoses of 
heroin and other opium-based drugs, more than twice the number killed 
by guns. An antidote called Narcan can keep the drug from stopping 
the user's breathing, but it has to be administered within minutes of 
an overdose. That is why the state Department of Public Health plans 
to distribute doses of Narcan to addicts and to train them in its 
use. The program has been in effect in Boston for more than a year, 
and should be expanded to four other regions of the state that DPH 
has identified.

Overdoses are an increasing problem in part because high-grade heroin 
has been available for about the price of a six-pack of beer. But 
while Narcan has been in use in hospital emergency rooms for years, 
it has not been made widely available directly to addicts. In Boston, 
addicts participating in the city's needle exchange program are 
trained to spray a prepackaged dose of Narcan, the brand name for 
naloxone, into the nose of the overdose victim. Nasal membranes 
absorb it even if the person has stopped breathing.

Narcan distribution has its critics. Many opponents worry that making 
heroin use less dangerous will simply keep addicts from seeking 
treatment. The White House Office of National Drug Control Policy 
opposes it on the grounds that an overdose is such a serious medical 
event it should be handled by medical professionals and not by an 
injector's friends.

Proponents, however, see it as a form of harm reduction - a way to 
keep drug users alive until they are ready to seek treatment. The 
success of Narcan distribution in saving lives trumps the critics' arguments.

Baltimore began distributing Narcan in 2004. By the end of 2005, 
participants in the program reported that they had successfully 
treated 194 overdoses. Heroin-related deaths in the city dropped to 
one-third below their 1999 peak. By last spring, Boston addicts had 
reported 60 reversals of overdoses through Narcan. Chicago and New 
York have also set up Narcan distribution programs.

Last year, despite the veto of then-Governor Romney, the state took 
an important step to protect the health of drug users by legalizing 
the sale of hypodermic needles without a doctor's prescription. With 
access to clean needles, addicts are much less likely to become 
infected with blood-borne diseases like HIV-AIDS and hepatitis C, or 
to transmit these diseases to their sex partners and other injection 
drug users.

Detox is still the preferred option for addicts, and both Narcan and 
clean needle programs always offer drug treatment first. Yet it is 
both humane and smart to show addicts how to stay alive until the day 
when they are ready to beat their addiction, not just evade its most 
deadly consequences. 
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake