Effects of Heroin Addiction and Treatment

April 24, 2015

Effects of Heroin Addiction and Treatment: The Disturbing realities of Heroin

Effects of Heroin Addiction and Treatment are just a drop of what you should know about heroin addiction. Seek for more information for you to be on top of this problem

While discussing the topic how well do you know heroin addiction in our previous article, we listed four questions of concern and were only able to discuss the first one. We want to take time and discuss the remaining three in this article to appreciate the effects of heroin addiction and treatment. Again we are going to be relying on the expert opinions from AWAREmed Health and Wellness Resource Center under the able leadership of doctor Dalal Akoury’s care. Dr. Akoury is also the founder of the facility and has been in the medical practice for well over two decades making her to be one of the most experienced medical doctors when it comes to drug addiction and other areas of concern.

How Do I Know if I Have a Heroin Problem?

What is Heroin and how is it Used?
Effects of Heroin Use
Treatment for Heroin and Opiate Addiction

Effects of Heroin Addiction and Treatment: What is Heroin and how is it Used?

Heroin is an illegal, semi-synthetic drug processed from morphine, a substance extracted from the opium poppy. It is used as a recreational drug for the intense feelings of relaxation and euphoria it induces. Heroin is typically sold as a white or brownish powder or as a black, sticky substance known as “black tar heroin.” Most street heroin is “cut” with other drugs or with substances such as sugar or starch. Heroin can also be cut with poisons like strychnine.

Heroin is usually dissolved and injected, or the powder is snorted or smoked. All forms of heroin are psychologically and physically addictive, and a tolerance to the drug builds quickly. IV or intramuscular heroin use poses special problems because of the potential for transmitting infectious diseases. Over the past decade, researchers have observed a shift in heroin use patterns, from injection to snorting and smoking. With this shift comes an even more diverse group of users.

Effects of Heroin Addiction and Treatment: Effects of Heroin Use

Short-Term Effects: Soon after administration, heroin crosses the blood-brain barrier. Users report feelings a surge of intense pleasure (a “rush”). This is usually accompanied by a warm flushing of the skin, dry mouth, and a heavy feeling in the extremities. Nausea, vomiting, and severe itching may also occur. After the initial effects, the heroin user will typically be drowsy for several hours. Mental function is clouded by heroin’s effect on the central nervous system. Cardiac function slows. Breathing also slows sometimes to the point of death. The following are some of the short term heroin effects:

Euphoria
Depressed respiration
Flushed skin
Clouded mental functioning/sedation
Nausea and vomiting
Suppression of pain
Infectious diseases

Long-Term Effects: One of the most harmful long-term effects of heroin abuse is addiction itself. Addiction is a chronic disease, characterized by compulsive drug seeking and use despite negative consequences, and by changes in the brain. Heroin also produces profound degrees of tolerance and physical dependence, which contributes heavily to abuse. Painful withdrawal symptoms occur if use is reduced abruptly. The following are some of the long term effects of heroin:

Addiction
Problems with the heart, liver and kidneys
Overdose Risk
Infectious diseases, for example, HIV/AIDS and hepatitis
Collapsed veins
Abscesses (at injection sites)
Arthritis and other rheumatological problems
Infection of heart lining and valves
Depressed lung function

Effects of Heroin Addiction and Treatment: Treatment for Heroin and Opiate Addiction

Detoxification/”Detox”: The primary objective of detoxification is to relieve withdrawal symptoms, stabilize participants and prepare them for longer-term treatment. Symptoms of withdrawal most of which peak between 24-48 hours after the last use include: restlessness, muscle and bone pain, insomnia, diarrhea, vomiting, cold flashes with goose bumps and uncontrollable leg movements. Medications like Subutex may be used to minimize withdrawal symptoms.

Residential Drug Rehab: this is a situation where residential treatment participants come to live in a safe, supervised setting for 30 days or more. Normally the intention of residential rehab is to create an environment where patients are able to remain focus to the assignment of recovering from their addiction. Some of the services offered may include drug education both individual and group counseling, family counseling and making referrals by way of making introduction to community-based self-help groups & referrals to community resources.

Therapeutic Communities: Research published by The National Institute On Drug Abuse states that one of the most effective drug-free treatments are the therapeutic community (TC) programs lasting 3 to 6 months. TC programs are residential, with participants and therapists living together. The program length gives participants the time they need to stabilize from their drug use and to develop new, healthy behaviors and support networks.

Outpatient Treatment: More intensive treatments may be followed by outpatient treatment regular structured therapeutic groups and individual counseling several days a week, usually for several months. Outpatient participants have stabilized in terms of their drug use, and are appropriate for a level of care that isn’t monitored or structured 24/7.

Community-Based Self-Help Groups: Group like Narcotics Anonymous and Alcoholics Anonymous, along with non-12 step based programs, are designed to help addicts attain long-term abstinence. Group members gain new tools and support networks to deal with their addictions.

Maintenance Programs: Some heroin addicts do not find complete abstinence feasible. In these cases, a maintenance approach providing a small dose of medication so individuals can function without going into withdrawal is employed. The use of methadone, buprenorphine (Subutex) and levomethadyl has been found to most effective in the maintenance programs.

Finally the duty of managing heroin addiction must be done collectively and not to be left to the government authorities alone. All of us are affected and we all have a duty to perform. When doctor Akoury made the decision to form a medical center whose main objective is to transform each individual’s life through increasing awareness about health and wellness and by empowering individuals to find their own inner healing power, she was guided by this common fact of collective responsibility. Dr. Akoury’s practice focuses on personalized medicine through healthy lifestyle choices that deal with primary prevention and underlying causes instead of patching up symptoms. This makes her one of the best professionals you can rely on with your addiction problem. You can reach her on call to schedule for an appointment with her for the commencement of your addiction treatment.

Effects of Heroin Addiction and Treatment: The Disturbing realities of Heroin

How well do you know Heroin Drug

April 24, 2015

How well do you know Heroin Drug: How do I know if I have Heroin Problem?

How well do you know Heroin Drug? The information about heroin is very important in the journey to heroin addiction recovery and creating awareness is just the beginning

For a couple of days we have been addressing various issues concerning drug abuse and particularly heroin. We noticed that the rate at which this is increasing is worrying and as professionals at AWAREmed Health and Wellness Resource Center under the able leadership of doctor Dalal Akoury we will continue giving our contribution to ensure that the prevalence of substance abuse is reduced to manageable levels. In our interaction with clients and patients from time to time, we have noticed that the public are not really informed of the consequences of these drug abuses. And most worrying is that even if they are directly affected, it takes others to notice but the real victim is not even aware that he is addicted to heroin or any other drug. We want to use this forum to further create more awareness of the prevalence of heroin and the question we want to respond to is “how well do you know heroin drug?” to effectively respond to this, we have segmented the discussion in four question of great concern. We hope that this will help you understand better what heroin really is and how you can protect yourself from the scourge. The four questions of concerns include:

How Do I Know if I Have a Heroin Problem?
What is Heroin and how is it Used?
Effects of Heroin Use
Treatment for Heroin and Opiate Addiction

Heroin is an illegal, highly addictive drug. It is not just the most abused drug but it is also the most rapidly acting of the opiates. These characteristics have put it to be the leading opiate abused in the global opiate market. With the help of the professionals at AWAREmed Health and Wellness Resource Center, let us get to business of responding to these concerns.

How well do you know Heroin Drug: How Do I Know if I Have a Heroin Problem?

It is always said that knowledge is power and that luck of it is the basis of many problems we are facing today. Understanding that background, we want to be as informative as possible so that by the end of this article, you will be able to make informed decisions about substance abuse. Heroin Anonymous developed some questions which were tailored into helping individuals be on top of any possibility of heroin addiction. How you respond to the questions below will give a very strong indication about your position with heroin. Like for instance how would you respond to the following?

Do you isolate yourself when using heroin? In other wards you are avoiding people when using heroin, does that describe you?
Have you ever used more heroin than you planned? If you have records of usage it will be helpful however you can also evaluate this by auditing your spending on heroin. Has it been constant or has it been fluctuating?
Has your heroin usage interfered with your job or school? Take stock of how many times you have lied to be sick and stayed off duty or if you have not been meeting your assignment deadlines inconsideration.
Do you find yourself concealing your heroin usage from others? Interesting, are you proud of this habit?
Are you experiencing financial difficulties due to your heroin usage? You may not realize this if you have more than enough to spend but evaluate from your spending how much is going into heroin account, in other word has it become one of the item you spend on heavily?
Has your heroin usage caused problems with your partner/spouse or family? Take a closer look at your present and your past before you got into heroin, are you still faithful in that relationship? How often do you hide certain information from your family? Dig deep in your past and respond honestly.
Do you wish you could stop using heroin and find that you are unable to quit? Many times users are very frustrated with their habits and are struggling to quit but because they are deeply hooked they are unable. Does this describe your situation?
Have you experienced legal difficulties from your heroin usage and yet you continue to use? Of course heroin is illegal and the authorities will not let you go without being punished. You may have escaped once or twice but will you escape forever?
Do you consume the entire amount of heroin you have and then immediately desire to get more? And have you become extravagant all over sudden?
Have you failed to cut down or quit heroin entirely? You know this is an illegality and probably you have been making effort of quitting but you keep meeting resistance and challenges. Does this describe you?
Do you wish you had never taken that first hit, line, or injection of heroin? In your years of addiction, somewhere along the way have you had any regret however small?

How well do you know Heroin Drug: It is possible to Quit Heroin?

Before we continue with the remaining question, the focus of this article is to bring hope to all heroin addicts and not to condemn them. We started by asking how well do you know heroin drug? And up to that point I want to inform you that if all the answers you are giving are pointing to the wrong direction of heroin addiction, you are on the right track of making the right decision. A decision for health and good life and doctor Akoury and her team of experts are very much ready and willing to help you do through this difficulty. AWAREmed Health and Wellness Resource Center team of experts are only waiting to hear from you primarily to help you in the recovery process. All you need to do is to schedule for an appointment with doctor Dalal Akoury and that which you have not been able to solve alone, will be professionally addressed. As you consider making that good decision, let us continue highlighting the indicators of heroin addiction in their question forms.

Have you continued to use heroin even after you experienced an overdose?
Do you fear other people will find out about your heroin usage?
Are you preoccupied with getting heroin when you do not have it?
Do you have to use larger amounts of heroin to get the same high you once experienced?
Has anyone ever told you that you may have a problem?
Have you ever lied or misled those around you about how much or how often you use heroin?
Do you use heroin at work or in the bathroom in public facilities?
Have you ever hocked something in order to buy heroin?
Are you afraid that if you stop using heroin that you will not be able to function?
Do you find yourself doing things that you are ashamed of in order to purchase heroin?
Have you ever stolen drugs or money from family or friends in order to buy heroin?

Finally if your answer to any of these 22 questions is “Yes” then you need help. You don’t have to answer all of them yes; just one is enough to indicate the heroin problem. Like I have indicated talking to doctor Akoury will be the starting point and by the end of it your life will change for good leaving you to enjoy life without regrets. The remaining three concerns will be addressed in the next article, so stay on the link and get the best of health information.

How well do you know Heroin Drug: How do I know if I have Heroin Problem?

The Prevalence of Heroin Addiction Globally

April 23, 2015

The Prevalence of Heroin Addiction Globally: How Addicts get hooked up to Heroin

The Prevalence of Heroin Addiction Globally is becoming uncontrollable going by the rate at which young people are being hooked up to drugs

Until you get out and see for yourself or listen to people share their experience, you may not know the impact of heroin addiction in your neighborhood. The prevalence of heroin addiction globally is taking a new dimension. Currently heroin and other substance abuse are no longer drugs associated with the city centers but the net is widening even in to the local estates and neighborhoods. In the previous article we doctor Akoury shared with us the story of a young man named Felix and how he was progressively lured into drugs. From a simple experiment Felix was introduced to legal medications like the painkillers and before he knew he was an addict. In this article we are going to further on that discussion by focusing on some of the experiences other people have had an opportunity to witness. There are a lot of recordings that give us a clear picture of the prevalence of heroin addiction globally. Take for example according to recent report “Donna Holaday looks out the window of her city hall office in Newburyport, an affluent coastal city 37 miles north of Boston. Ms. Holaday has been mayor of the town the past four years and was recently reelected. Over that time, she has seen her share of municipal concerns come across her busy desk. But few have been as worrying as the growing use of heroin in her idyllic community.”

Although she knew of the drug’s presence in the city, the report continues, Holaday says that it wasn’t until police reports started surfacing and concerned residents began showing up in her office that she understood the depth of the problem and the emotional anguish it was causing. She continues to narrate that “I had a mother sitting in my office crying, telling me her story about how she pulled her son out of a trailer, just over the border in New Hampshire, and [how] he would have died [if she hadn’t intervened],” she says.

As if that was not enough other local parents also told her about finding needles and syringes in the leafy playgrounds where their children romped. Addicts were seen “shooting up” on the city’s Clipper City Rail Trail, a scenic biking and jogging path. Newburyport Police Marshal Thomas Howard says his department has responded to more than a dozen heroin overdoses in the past months. Without the use of Narcan, an overdose reversal drug, he says the number of deaths in the area “would be skyrocketing.”

The Prevalence of Heroin Addiction Globally: The trend of Heroin is affecting even the once drug Free states

Ideally, Newburyport isn’t the kind of town you’d expect to have any heroin footprint at all. It is one of those communities that seem to have everything including; beauty, wealth, a vibrant arts culture, and an enviable location. Straddling the banks of the Merrimack River and its outlet to the Atlantic Ocean, Newburyport has a storied seafaring heritage that is visible at every salt-scented turn.

Its harbor once bustled with clipper ships from around the world. The city’s High Street is a showcase of imposing Federal-style homes that trace their lineage to sea captains and speculators who plied the waters of the West Indies, trading molasses for rum in the 1700s. These same homes, once maintained by black and native American slaves, later became a means of escape as part of the Underground Railroad.

Now this city is trying to end a different kind of slavery. Mr. Pettigrew, of the DEA, lives in Newburyport. As a member of the agency’s regional office, he and his fellow agents track where the drugs flowing into New England are coming from – a trail that usually leads to cartels in Colombia and Mexico and the story continues in our next article

While heroin has always been available in the region, what’s changed recently is the purity of the drugs on the street. Pettigrew notes that the heroin that addicts used to shoot up with was 2 or 3 percent pure. Today, the street purity of the drug can be as high as 80 percent.

That potency helps explain both the drug’s wider appeal and its new danger. Heroin once had to be injected for users to get the high they were looking to achieve, but it is now concentrated enough that they can smoke or snort it to get a similar effect – methods that make heroin easier for people like Felix to use it without feeling like a junkie. The higher purity is also more likely to trigger an overdose for those who do inject it.

Like everything else, you’re trying to sell your product, so [dealers are] trying to pitch it as a more potent drug for you to take and get high off of.

Stronger heroin is only one reason behind the nation’s growing addiction problem. The other – and more prevalent cause, say police and medical experts – is the nation’s pill culture.

Felix’s route to addiction is a familiar one, according to addicts: a progression from alcohol to marijuana to painkillers to heroin. There are variations on that theme: a sports injury and a prescription for opioids that goes on far longer than it should; a peek inside the family medicine cabinet to find a trove of prescription pills – such as Percocet, OxyContin, Vicodin, codeine – that can be used as recreational drugs.

Often the introduction comes through friends who want to share a high they have discovered. Or it happens at a college party where a variety of drugs are being offered.

Finally irrespective of how this scourge begun the common denominator is that, it usually takes the same impulsive route. And once hooked, users look for doctors who will sell them prescription drugs, and when that fails, desperation sets in and the only available option is in the street. The painkiller drugs are often accessible to the street at an average cost. The condition will continue to deteriorate as sources of income gets depleted. When they can no longer finance their habits they turn to the very last resort which is fairly affordable and provide the same or better result than the painkillers. The most accessible in this case is the heroin which is much cheaper compared to other drugs we have mentioned.

The Prevalence of Heroin Addiction Globally: How Addicts get hooked up to Heroin

The Journey of Heroin addiction in Neighborhoods

April 23, 2015

The Journey of Heroin addiction in Neighborhoods: Why heroin is spreading in America’s suburbs

The Journey of Heroin addiction in Neighborhoods begins with a simple urge to experiment

The cry of the society about the impact of drug addiction and in particularly heroin is making strides in to very unusual territories. It is no longer the preserve of the dangerous canners at the back yards in the city centers. It is moving into our homesteads and door steps to the disbelief of the authorities and parents. If you are in doubt then listen to this story of a college student whose name we are going to withheld and call him Felix. The story of Felix is a clear manifestation of the journey of heroin addiction in neighborhoods. To expose the picture clearly, expert at AWAREmed Health and Wellness Resource Center under the able leadership of doctor Dalal Akoury who is the MD and founder of the facility states that “the drug has followed prescription painkillers into new neighborhoods, an element that has surprised even the police and parents into confronting the unexpected problem.”

The Journey of Heroin addiction in Neighborhoods: The sequence of Heroin addiction

And now back to the story of Felix, he was a good student in school always scoring above-average grades. He seemed poised and self-possessed, and like many of his friends in his charming coastal town north of their town was an incredible path to the college. Then, during his freshman year in high school, he decided to experiment with drugs and alcohol. And this is how it often begins they call it experiment no wonder Felix is following suit. It was on one night when he got very drunk in company of his friends and guess what? He loved it acknowledging that it made his day and that he felt like he has always wanted to be. Before long he was smoking cigarette and marijuana. Soon after a friend graduated him to some prescription painkiller pills which made him feel even much better than alcohol and other drugs he had been taking. Because of the experience he had, he begun purchasing these painkillers secretly and unlawfully spending all his up keep money on this unworthy habit. When he could not get further funding for the same, he resorted into stealing to support his habit but even with the stolen money it was not adequate. The trend continued and his friends introduced him to heroin which was much cheaper. His response was mutual “isn’t heroin for drug addicts?”

The Journey of Heroin addiction in Neighborhoods: High dependency on Drugs leads to Addiction of the same

Yes his concern was realistic but by that time his dependence on the painkillers had become more than he could resist. And as usual he bought the heroin, snorting the powder for the very first time. Oh mu goodness, six days later he was injecting himself with a needle becoming the archetype of a classic heroin addict. His anguished journey from conscientious student to heroin user is one confronting many young people in suburbs across the country and the world over. It has become a thorn in everyone’s flesh and both parents and police are struggling with the ever rising usage of heroin in suburban neighborhoods than ever before.

According to the experts at AWAREmed Health and Wellness Resource Center the rise is being driven by a large supply of cheap heroin in its purer concentrations that can be inhaled or smoked and which often removes the stigma associated with injecting it with a needle. But much of the increase among suburban teens, as well as a growing number of adults, has also coincided with a sharp rise in the use of prescription painkiller pills, which medical experts say are essentially identical to heroin. These painkillers, or opioids, are prescribed for things such as sports injuries, dental procedures, or chronic back pain. Yet in a disturbing number of cases, experts say, they are leading to overdependence and often to addiction to the pills themselves, which can then lead to heroin use.

The Journey of Heroin addiction in Neighborhoods: The indiscriminate nature of Heroin Addiction

Heroin like any other drug does not discriminate on who will be vulnerable to it. It affects everyone irrespective of their social status. If you were to be taken down the history of heroin addiction in various societies the world over, you will be amazed at the kind of personalities that have fallen for heroin. The latest rise in heroin abuse was made more visible by the recent overdose death of actor Philip Seymour Hoffman. Even though this is one of the notable cases, drug addiction has been growing steadily across many levels of society for at least the past decade. And unlike the heroin surge in the 1970s, the current use of opiates is far more concentrated among suburban and rural whites than among African-American and Latino communities taking the US as an example.

In Vermont, Gov. Peter Shumlin in January devoted his entire State of the State message to the heroin and opiate addiction crisis engulfing his state. In Massachusetts, law enforcement authorities recently reported that 185 people have died of heroin overdoses in just the past four months which didn’t include numbers from the state’s three largest cities. Nationwide, according to the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), heroin use among persons age 12 and above nearly doubled between 2007 and 2012.

Doctor Akoury states that the perception which used to be in the past that heroin was mostly an urban problem is no longer the case because now there are no borders; there are no demographic or geographic areas which are immune from heroin. The story of Felix will continue in our next article but for now, you and I need to join hand together in the fight of drug abuse. We can allow the journey to heroin addiction in collages, neighborhood or any other place to continue. You can talk to doctor Dalal Akoury for assistance of any kind if you or any of your loved ones is struggling with heroin or and other drug. Your break through with this life threatening condition is going to commence the moment you schedule for that appointment with doctor Akoury today. With her over two decades of delivering professionalism in addiction recovery treatment, you will be well taken care of and your life will never be the same again.

The Journey to Heroin addiction in Colleges: Why heroin is spreading in America’s suburbs

Heroin and Drug Abuse Management Options

April 23, 2015

Heroin and Drug Abuse Management Options: Why do people Abuse Drugs

Heroin and Drug Abuse Management Options goes beyond creating awareness. The rate of addiction and usage is escalating at an alarming rate

While addressing the importance of prevention of heroin overdose in the societies from our previous article which you can make reference to, we indicated that we will discuss with you some points you need to know about the impact of heroin overdose in our societies. This is what we want to focus on in this section primarily looking at the heroin and drug abuse management options available for us in the fight a against drug abuse. Doctor Dalal Akoury is going to educate us on what we need to know about this problem and the following are some of the points we want to discuss:

Majority of new users get to heroin as a result of addiction to prescription drugs.
Quitting heroin is the easy part the hard part is staying off.
The users trying to quit for good run the greatest risk of overdose.
We could stop people from dying of overdose, except we can’t find them.

Heroin and Drug Abuse Management Options: Majority of new users get to heroin as a result of addiction to prescription drugs

Heroin users like any other drug abuser are not really copying this practice from their favorite rock musicians. Currently the available statistics is estimating that about 80% of new heroin users are lured into the drug after becoming addicted to the prescription pain medication. Due to a new medical focus on treating pain alongside false advertising by pharmaceutical companies, opiate painkiller prescriptions exploded from 76 million in 1991 to 219 million in 2011. The translation of this is that almost one for every American adult. This necessitated the authorities to begin responding to the growing addiction and overdose by cracking down on prescription excess and fraudulent pill mills. With the intervention of the authorities, those patients who found themselves addicted when their prescriptions ran out of supply, resorted for the cheap accessible pills on the street. Many switched from $50 Oxycontin pills to $10 doses of heroin. That is why in my introduction I indicated that, it is essential that government agencies and medical professionals keep working together to reduce our reliance on opiate painkillers. Nevertheless since more opiate-addicted patients are cut off from their legal supply, many more will turn to heroin. It is time to address our society’s heroin problem.

Heroin and Drug Abuse Management Options: Quitting heroin is easy the hard part is staying off

A serious heroin user who misses a dose or two suffers the painful withdrawal like that of the story in our last article where the young boy had to be jailed. Worse than the physical symptoms are the debilitating depression and the knowledge that just one dose would make all the pains go away. In a few days, withdrawal ends but the cravings do not. Long-term heroin use causes users to hunger for heroin just in the same way we often hunger for food. Most users today have been through treatment multiple times, and only five to fifteen percent stay off for good. It is not a question of low self-control, cravings never ends, it may not show for a while but when triggered, it may not matter how long you have been off the drugs you are still able to relapse. Realistically people can relapse due to the loss of their jobs, problems with relationships. Besides these your success can also be a trigger for relapse. For instance if you have made great achievement in your business or profession, you may want to reward yourself with a single celebration that can lead to total relapse.

The society is not helping either. We often feel adamant in accepting the rehabilitated addicts or those who have served their jail terms. Take for example many organizations are not willing to absorb former convicts in job positions. Actually very few if will hire someone with a criminal record, especially for heroin. Just when users need help rebuilding a stable life, their criminal records cripple their job applications and bar them from college loans, assistance programs and professional licenses.

Heroin and Drug Abuse Management Options: The users trying to quit for good run the greatest risk of overdose.

Regular heroin users know how much of the drug their bodies can take. They increase their habit slowly, building up a high opiate tolerance. But when they quit, their bodies rapidly lose this tolerance. If they stay clean for a few weeks and then inject their usual dose, the dose may be fatal. If you followed the story of the young boy who only after two weeks of freedom from jail term, borrowing his friend’s car, his tolerance dropped enough that the usual dose killed him.

Others die from taking heroin with cocaine and alcohol, or from bad batches that the dealer mixed poorly or blended with toxic substances. Bad batches are par for the course, since the dealer’s only qualification as a pharmacist is his willingness to risk his life and the lives of others. But the most common reason for overdose is relapse use. In fact, studies show that people who die of heroin overdose actually have on average lower levels of heroin in their bodies than living users. This means that it is the people trying hardest to quit who are at the greatest risk of dying.

Heroin and Drug Abuse Management Options: We could stop people from dying of overdose, except we can’t find them

Many are surprised to learn that heroin overdose deaths are entirely preventable. Naloxone which is administered by injection or nasal spray reverses overdose within seconds by dislodging the drug from the brain’s opiate receptor sites. Naloxone is available in hospitals and carried by paramedics and some police officers. In a small number of cities, community-based overdose programs train users, family and friends to administer naloxone. Now the question that begs for an answer is “if we can stop heroin overdoses, why do they still claim the lives of our people daily?” this is possibly because users inject alone and in hiding. Any heroin user who attempted to ensure his or her safety by injecting in a hospital or near a policeman would be arrested. Even when users overdose around others, fellow users often hesitate to call 911. In 29 states, if a user calls 911 to save a friend from overdose, police can arrest those at the scene for drug possession. Naloxone has great potential to save lives, but the fear of arrest prevents it from realizing this potential.

Heroin and Drug Abuse Management Options: Why do people Abuse Drugs

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