Drug to Counteract Heroin Overdose in High Demand/Low Supply
Sixty-six people died of a heroin dose in 2011, up from 50 in 2010. Last week alone, seven people succumbed to the drug in Cowlitz County alone. Last month, another seven died in King County over a three day period. Heroin is cheap and in demand, but there’s another drug that could be quite popular if people only knew it existed.
According to the Seattle Times, Naloxene was made available by prescription in 2010. It’s a drug used countless times in emergency rooms and ambulances to bring people back from the throes of a heroin addiction. But few addicts know about it and few pharmacies stock it.
“It’s an issue of needing enough demand. People don’t know to ask for it,” said Caleb Banta-Green, from the University of Washington’s Alcohol and Drug Abuse Institute. Researchers and physicians are pushing to get the drug more widely available, so that addicts can be prepared if things turn tragic.
The bottom line is that not all heroin addicts are ready to quit, and until they are they will run the risk of overdosing on some particularly strong stuff. By having the antidote around, some lives could be saved.
These days heroin is very strong, and all seven recent deaths in Cowlitz County are being attributed to one particular batch. They all went into immediate respiratory failure after shooting up.
Naloxene works by blocking the opiates. It takes about five minutes to take effect and is administered via injection or inhalation. It can also stop the effects of drugs like morphine, codeine, methadone, and Vicodin.
Many people, who have never dealt with addiction or communicated closely with addicts, are resistant to the idea of providing them with a tool that can counteract overdoses, as if the Naloxene will somehow encourage more overdoses. However, what they don’t realize is that an addict is going to use heroin whether they have the antidote or not, and without Naloxene, they may just die doing so.
Heroin is highly addictive, one of the most addictive drugs there are. So, when you are addicted it can take a major event for you to decide it’s time to get clean. Oftentimes, that event is an arrest. Being charged with a drug crime can sometimes be the wakeup call that’s needed.
If you are charged with heroin possession, you face serious consequences. We may be able to help. If you’re ready to get treatment or if you want to put this arrest behind you as quickly as possible, our attorneys can do whatever possible to assist. Contact us today for a free consultation.
