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 Author: William Vaughan Jr. Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v16/n517/a07.html TREATING HEROIN ADDICTS Naloxone saves lives after a heroin overdose, but does it also encourage addiction? To the Editor: Your article discusses two interpretations of the effect of Narcan, the brand name of naloxone. The moral hazard interpretation is that Narcan gives drug users a safety net, allowing some to overdose numerous times in safety. Advocates of Narcan, on the other hand, say it allows people to get into treatment, and there is no evidence that Narcan increases opiate use. Given this uncertainty, I find it difficult to understand how you can write: "There is no question that the nation's death toll from heroin and prescription opioids would be significantly higher without naloxone." It is at least logically possible that Narcan will eventually be seen to have been a wholesale mistake. WILLIAM VAUGHAN Jr. Chebeague Island, Me. - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom