Pubdate: Sat, 11 Apr 2015
Source: Calgary Herald (CN AB)
Copyright: 2015 Postmedia Network
Contact:  http://www.calgaryherald.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/66
Page: A23

FIGHTING FENTANYL

Alberta health officials deserve praise for distributing a life-saving
antidote to curb the number of deaths attributed to the growing
popularity of fentanyl. High-risk drug users are being trained to
inject naloxone into themselves or into others to reverse the damaging
effects of an overdose, which keep oxygen from the brain and heart
until breathing stops. Naloxone can also be used to treat overdoses of
morphine, heroin and other opioids, restoring breathing within minutes.

"Opioid overdoses affect our friends, our co-workers, our neighbours,
and we need to do everything we can to prevent preventable deaths,"
says Dr. James Talbot, Alberta's chief medical officer of health.

Fentanyl is a painkiller that is up to 100 times more potent than
morphine and is mixed by dealers with heroin, oxycodone and other drugs.

Six community agencies throughout the province will be the first to
receive supplies of naloxone, including Calgary's Safeworks needle
exchange. Fentanyl was blamed for 120 deaths in Alberta last year
alone, so the need to respond was critical. The program is not only
compassionate, but fiscally thrifty, costing about $300,000 for the
first wave of several thousand kits. As a comparison, in 2013 - the
last year for which figures are available - overdoses cost $2.7
million for in-patient expenses and another $400,000 in emergency and
urgent care expenses.

Sixteen of the deaths have occurred on the Blood Tribe in the southern
part of the province, which was the first aboriginal community to
train its members to use the antidote. Drug use is a challenge
throughout Alberta, and during a recent Herald editorial board
meeting, Premier Jim Prentice was asked what remedies can be
implemented in hard-struck centres like the Blood Tribe. The premier
cited education as a solution, and while there's some wisdom to
Prentice's words, the crisis is such that it demanded intervention in
the form of naloxone.

The risk, at its core, is a health problem, and it's appropriate that
Talbot, with approval from Health Minister Stephen Mandel, is
distributing the antidote. It's essential that the naloxone kits are
made available as quickly as possible and in sufficient numbers.

Police also deserve credit for aggressively fighting the spread of
fentanyl, which has been traced to organized crime. The Alberta Law
Enforcement Response Teams, a group that targets serious and organized
crime, has confiscated more than 16,000 fentanyl pills in the past
year.

Fentanyl is a deadly scourge that must be fought with all means
possible.
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MAP posted-by: Matt