Pubdate: Sun, 07 Aug 2016 Source: New York Times (NY) Copyright: 2016 The New York Times Company Contact: http://www.nytimes.com/ref/membercenter/help/lettertoeditor.html Website: http://www.nytimes.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/298 Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v16/n517/a07.html Author: Claudia Greene TREATING HEROIN ADDICTS Naloxone saves lives after a heroin overdose, but does it also encourage addiction? To the Editor: Some of those you interview make the case that people use naloxone to continue their pattern of pleasure-seeking behaviors, even to their own detriment. However, abuse of opioids is not an act of free will; it is an agonizing compulsion. A person with a substance abuse disorder is compelled to use even when he or she no longer feels pleasure from the act. I volunteer with the Needle Exchange Emergency Distribution to distribute naloxone, clean syringes and other harm reduction supplies to clients in the East Bay area. Tellingly, the article quotes Gov. Paul LePage of Maine saying that "naloxone does not truly save lives; it merely extends them until the next overdose." Perhaps if Governor LePage met our clients he would see that people with substance abuse disorders are as worthy of compassionate care as anyone with a chronic disease. CLAUDIA GREENE Berkeley, Calif. The writer is pursuing a master's of public health degree at the University of California Berkeley School of Public Health. - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom