Pros And Cons Of Narcan

Improved Essays
Police are on the front lines of the opiate epidemic because of their close proximity to those who overdose. As a response to the growing number of opiate/heroin overdoses, most departments carry Naloxone in the form of a nasal spray Narcan. Narcan is a fast acting antagonist that almost instantly reverses the effects of an overdose by attaching to the opioid receptors in the brain and blocking the opium from having an effect on the nervous system. It is a miracle drug that has saved countless lives yet finds itself in the middle of a law enforcement debate on whether it is the duty of all officers to carry the antagonist. Narcan typically costs $75 for a pack of two and are provided to departments by health and community organizations. …show more content…
One side of the argument is that Narcan should be left to the medical responders who are better trained to apply the antagonist. According to a CBS article that interviewed Sheriffs in a county outside of Cincinnati, “Some police officials cite lack of resources for obtaining, maintaining and tracking supplies and for training in when and how to use it. They worry about taking on new duties they say are better suited for medical workers, divert them from fighting crime and can put them in danger.” The argument is also based around the fact that there are many routine users who are revived by law enforcement multiple times a month, thus using resources without rehabilitation. At roughly $35 per dosage, the cost to departments and taxpayers far outweighs the expectations of rehabilitation. In addition, those treated with Naloxone are often released from hospitals hours after treatment, usually going through symptoms of withdrawal. Many find themselves using again, but this time with double the dosage of heroin in their …show more content…
As law enforcement cracks down on dealers and the prices of the ingredients go up and the demand for the drug remains the same, economics says that the prices of heroin must go up as well. In order to keep low prices that their users can afford, makers will often dilute their heroin and add other ingredients for potency such as Fentanyl. Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid that is 50-100 times more powerful than morphine. Though it is a Schedule II drug with listed medical uses, the drug becomes deadly when the heroin user does not know they are taking a drug laced with Fentanyl. Overdoses occur when the users tolerance threshold is broken, meaning they simply take too much for their body to handle. In theory, if a user gradually increases their dosage but never breaks their threshold, there is no limit to the amount the body can handle. As one keeps using, they will need more to get high and their natural tolerance will increase with each use. Fentanyl is particularly troubling because of its unknown potency to the user resulting in a miscalculation of tolerance. Being 50-100 times stronger than morphine, the user will take their usual dosage of heroin believing that the desired effect will not break their tolerance threshold. Because of the fentanyl’s potency, the

Related Documents

  • Great Essays

    New Leaf Case Study

    • 1533 Words
    • 7 Pages

    According to the (Ohio Department of Health, 2016), the number of fentanyl-related drug overdoses was 75 in 2012 and 1,155 in 2015, and while prescription opioids have decreased fentanyl and heroin use has increased, so the problems are real. The solutions to these problems are up for debate, but access and affordability of treatment programs would be helpful, in the meantime agencies like this will have to provide support after the…

    • 1533 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The drug I will be focusing on today is Fentanyl. This drug is mostly used to help with sever pain but is at high risk to get addicted to. Some side effects that this includes are periods of not breathing, hallucinations, and confusion. These side effects are only a few of a giant list. 20,100 people die a year from drug overdose.…

    • 180 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Fentanyl Abuse Case Study

    • 1036 Words
    • 5 Pages

    The age and overall health of the patient do play an important role in determining the best approach to detox; however, the nature of the patient’s fentanyl abuse is arguably even more important. Some people only abuse the drug occasionally, but others use fentanyl heavily and continuously from the time that they first start taking it. People who engage in heavy fentanyl use will need to be slowly weaned off the drug. If patients in this group try to stop taking fentanyl all at once, they will experience brutal withdrawal…

    • 1036 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    These drugs are easy to get but yet hard to receive help when they become a problem. Overdose occurs when a toxic amount of a drug or combination of drugs is taken. Opioids in particular pose a higher risk of overdose as they can depress the central nervous system causing breathing to slow, sometimes to the point of stopping altogether. According to The Nation’s Best Rehabs, in 1997, in rehab facilities, there were 235,143 admissions from individuals abusing Heroin as their primary use. By 2007, the number increased to 246,871.…

    • 779 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The Effects Of Fentanyl

    • 1534 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Users can never tell how powerful one specific amount is, so they are constantly at risk of overdosing. Heroin tolerance is built quickly, requiring more and more each time, in order to reach the high. Withdrawal symptoms are extremely painful, due to the body’s physical dependence on the drug. The 2012 National Survey on Drug Use and Health says that 670,000 Americans use heroin. Throughout the world, there are 9.2 million people who use heroin.…

    • 1534 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Essay On Fentanyl Crisis

    • 2716 Words
    • 11 Pages

    As more opioids have become more widespread throughout the country, Fentanyl has become a major cause of overdose deaths. The smallest amount of fentanyl can be incredibly dangerous and deadly to whoever is using it. Contributing to the fentanyl crisis is the availability and the common mixing with other drugs. Illicit fentanyl, often shipped to Canada from China, is increasingly being added to cocaine, MDMA and other street drugs, and users have no idea they are ingesting a powerful, deadly opioid ("Opioid Crisis," 2018, p.…

    • 2716 Words
    • 11 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The new wonder drug founded in Germany was called heroin after its German trademarked name. Heroin was imported into the United States, shortly after its invention. It was said that heroin was a “safe, non-addictive” substitute for morphine. Since this, heroin has always been a part of the American drug addiction problem. It has occasional spark ups, but the modern day epidemic has the potential to be America’s largest heroin epidemic…

    • 889 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Naloxone’s Role In Opioid Overdose Prevention In 2013 an estimated 16,000 American citizens died from an opioid overdose (CDC, 2014). This number has also quadrupled since 2001, when opioid overdoses had only amounted to 4,000 deaths a year (NIDA, 2015). Nurses Saving Lives aims to educate Doctors, Policy makers and the general public on Naloxone and its life saving abilities to counteract the harmful effects of an opioid overdose that have often led to death. We believe that with the right information on the safety and efficacy of Naloxone, and clarification on common misconceptions that have plagued the subject, we can help make this life saving drug available over the counter to families, caregivers, and communities to help battle the growing…

    • 2050 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Opioids In America

    • 226 Words
    • 1 Pages

    The opioid epidemic is the deadliest drug crisis in US history, killing thousands of people through disease and overdose. Recently, President Trump declared the growing crisis a “public health emergency.” Opioids are part of a drug class that includes the illegal drug heroin as well as powerful pain relievers, such as oxycodone, hydrocodone, codeine, morphine, fentanyl, and many others. Every day in the United States thousands of people are treated in emergency departments for not using prescription opioids as directed. Drug overdose is now the leading cause of accidental death in the U.S., and opioid addiction is driving this epidemic.…

    • 226 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Opioids Persuasive Speech

    • 752 Words
    • 4 Pages

    This class of drug contains drugs like heroin, oxycodone, hydrocodone, morphine, codeine, fentanyl, etc. In most cases, opioids are prescribed by doctors as a short term pain reliever. Usually a person’s body can handle small doses of opioids without becoming addicted, but when people decide to abuse opioids their chances of becoming addicted are much greater. Most people are unaware of the toll abusing painkillers can take on your body. If a painkiller is not prescribed to you, it can have long term effects on your body including stomach bleeding, brain damage and liver failure.…

    • 752 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    In 1898 heroin hit the shelves as a non-addictive substitute for morphine in was a huge fail ("Drug Dependence"...n.pag.). The dangerous and highly addictive drug being sold to day and causing just as much problems as its creator Opioid. Opioid has different reactions with different people under different circumstances ("Drug Dependence"...n.pag.). The Symptoms of opioid abuse are similar to other drug abuse situations…

    • 117 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Opioids In Nursing

    • 880 Words
    • 4 Pages

    (Association, "Nurse's Role in Addressing Nation's Opioid Crisis “). “Issues surrounding abuse and misuse of prescription opioids must be balanced with the real and legitimate needs of those seeking treatment for pain and developing deterrent formulations is an important tool in preventing abuse”. (Association, "Nurse's Role in Addressing Nation's Opioid Crisis ") Another resource nurses have available is Naloxone which prevents the overdose of opioids. With proper education, “the ANA supports increasing access to Naloxone for first responders, families, friends and caregivers of those who are known to be chronic users of…

    • 880 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Opioid Abuse Analysis

    • 1071 Words
    • 5 Pages

    As users continue to use the product, the tolerance for the drug increases, which ultimately leads to high dose dependence that can result in overdose. If no solutions are found regarding this epidemic, many…

    • 1071 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In 2013 25,000 people died from an overdose of prescribed medicine out of that 25,000 18,000 them died from prescribed opioids. If those people were not prescribed the opioids then they probably wouldn’t have died cutting down that number to only 7,000 deaths. The higher the dose of opioid drug leads to more overdoses. The longer you take the drug the stronger the tolerance becomes and then the higher the dose of the drug the higher the chance of having an overdose. That’s why the common age that people overdose on opioids is from the age 25-64.…

    • 711 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Heroin can also slow down a person’s mental function because it can cause one to become drowsy after their euphoric high. The alertness level of a person becomes very low which can lead to the user hurting themselves in various ways such as falling, since they’re too out of it to be aware as to what is going on around them. A slowed heartbeat can also occur. Even though short term effects don’t last long they are still affecting you in some way and a short term effect can lead to a long term…

    • 1009 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays

Related Topics