While modern medicine has eradicated many diseases and public health threats, one epidemic continues to spread and is now the second largest cause of unintentional death in the US: Drug overdose. Moreover, it is not just any drug causing these deaths; the majority result from heroin and opioid analgesics (prescription painkillers, like OxyContin or Vicodin). In fact, opioid painkillers account for almost six times more overdose-related deaths than their “street” counterpart. Even in Baltimore, a city infamous for its high rate of heroin use, the instances of emergency calls and medical treatment for prescription opioids has increased dramatically in the past two decades.
What makes these numbers even more shocking is the fact that many of these deaths could have been prevented even after the person took the drug. I’m talking about an antidote, a cure for opiate and opioid overdose. Amazingly, there is one – Naloxone – which has been proven since its introduction in the 1990s to have a high success rate and few negative side effects. Naloxone literally reverses an overdose and is easy to apply nasally or intramuscularly, even without professional medical training. Yet despite the existence of this treatment, many people are either unaware of naloxone or don’t have access to it, and as a result, drug overdose fatality rates continue to climb.
Before discussing some factors that contribute to the lack of knowledge about overdose prevention, I must dismiss the notion that drug users suffering from an overdose are unworthy of saving. First, an overdose is probably not what the user intended to bring about with their use – the majority of OD’s are accidental. Second, the drugs that are the leading causes of overdose, heroin (opiates) and cocaine, have long histories of medical and cultural use before the current negative stigma was attached to them. Furthermore, the leading cause of drug overdose is not recreational use, but prescription abuse. It would be wrong to deny these patients life-saving measures for doing something that’s considered “bad” in a completely different scenario. Even if a person overdoses from someone else’s medication, he or she doesn’t deserve to die in a time of need for what may have simply been a mistake or lapse in judgment.
Most people would agree the value of a person’s life should outweigh the implications of violating a law that harms only themselves, as is the case with drug abuse. However, we are not always so reasonable and unbiased, and the pervasive negative stigma attached to drugs (especially heroin and opioids) discourages many users from seeking out Naloxone for potential future emergencies. Another factor contributing to the antidote’s underuse is the fact that regulations on Naloxone attainment, possession, and distribution vary from state to state. In some places, Naloxone may be distributed freely by health organizations; in other places (including Maryland), a prescription is needed to get the treatment; and in some places (also including Maryland), it’s illegal to use your prescribed Naloxone to treat someone else who has overdosed and may not have treatment of their own.
So, how can advocates raise awareness of this life-saving drug? Publicizing is crucial, as there is a shortage of effective media campaigns about overdose prevention, as well as a shortage of foreign-language harm reduction material. In addition, officials should consider implementing a statewide overdose prevention program as other states have, since the current efforts are located solely in Baltimore City. Hopefully the combination of education, increased access to Naloxone and diminished stigma will help curb the overdose death rate and open the doors for new methods of treatment.
Lauren Mendelsohn is a junior psychology major. She can be reached at mendelsohn@umdbk.com.
