Killing in the name of public health

The Office of National Drug Control Policy prefers dead heroin addicts to living heroin addicts. At least, it's hard to put any other interpretation on this story:

Public health workers from New York to Los Angeles, North Carolina to New Mexico, are preventing thousands of deaths by giving $9.50 rescue kits to drug users. The kits turn drug users into first responders by giving them the tools to save a life.

[snip]

The nasal spray is a drug called naloxone, or Narcan. It blocks the brain receptors that heroin activates, instantly reversing an overdose.

Doctors and emergency medical technicians have used Narcan for years in hospitals and ambulances. But it doesn't require much training because it's impossible to overdose on Narcan.

[snip]

New data compiled for NPR by researcher Alex Kral of the consulting firm RTI International show that more than 2,600 overdoses have been reversed in 16 programs operating across the nation.

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John Gatto, executive director of the Cambridge program, says such dramatic results are unusual in the world of substance abuse treatment and prevention.

"In the work that we do, oftentimes the results are very intangible," Gatto says. "This is amazing to be involved in something that literally can save people's lives. Why wouldn't we do it?"

But Dr. Bertha Madras, deputy director of the White House Office on National Drug Control Policy, opposes the use of Narcan in overdose-rescue programs.

"First of all, I don't agree with giving an opioid antidote to non-medical professionals. That's No. 1," she says. "I just don't think that's good public health policy."

Madras says drug users aren't likely to be competent to deal with an overdose emergency. More importantly, she says, Narcan kits may actually encourage drug abusers to keep using heroin because they know overdosing isn't as likely.

Madras says the rescue programs might take away the drug user's motivation to get into detoxification and drug treatment.

"Sometimes having an overdose, being in an emergency room, having that contact with a health care professional is enough to make a person snap into the reality of the situation and snap into having someone give them services," Madras says.

Got that? Preventing thousands of deaths isn't "good public health policy" if it doesn't involve the appropriate laying-on-of-hands by the medical priesthood. Anyway, if heroin addicts aren't afraid of dying, they might keep using heroin.

Why not just go all the way and poison the heroin supply? If withholding Narcan in order to generate more overdoses in order to scare addicts into quitting were proposed as an experiment, it could never get past human-subjects review. But since it's a failure to act rather than an action, there's no rule to require that it be even vaguely rational.

I get angry at the people who call themselves the "drug policy reform movement" for their insistence that we could make more drugs legal without having more addiction. But unlike their counterparts in the equally reality-challenged but politically dominant "drug-free America" movement, the "drug policy reformers" lack the power to kill in the service of their dreams.

Comments

[Newsanalysis]

REEL LIFE FILMS


January 26, 2008


I recently read your article about drug abuse. The subject of illicit drug use is near and dear to me. I grew up in an area where drug abuse was common. As young people many of us participated in the drug trade as users , dealers and enjoyed the lifestyle. The participation in this subculture derailed our lives, in some cases for ever, and for the rest us success on any level became a dream and only a fraction of our original potential. It took jail and poverty among other things to force me into a change. With an intimate knowledge of my own failures, the love of my son, and the desire to help a friend, I took a chance and produced the award winning documentary Hairkutt.

Hairkutt is the true story of one man"s life and death battle against heroin and his friends" daring move to try to save him. Unflinchingly captured by the camera in a style more powerful and raw than any reality TV, Hairkutt takes us inside the personal nightmare of drug addicts to witness their horror, and the courage and desperation of those who love them.

I was driven to make a very particular film for a very specific reason: to save lives. My decision was born of my love for a close friend who was a heroin addict, as well as my love for my son and a desire to emphasize to my child the dangers of drug use. The idea turned into a very risky endeavor, not only for me, but for everyone involved in making the film. Not only did we put our friendships and trust in each other on the line, at least one of us literally risked his life.

I want to make myself and my documentary available to you as a resource for any stories you develop in the future. You can find additional information on my film at www.hairkuttthemovie.com .

All the best,
Curtis Elliott,

Director/Producer
www.hairkuttthemovie.com
____________________________________________________________________________________
P.O. Box 2260, Florissant, MO, 63032 ¢ [e-mail]

[oldpotsmuggler]

"I get angry at the people who call themselves the "drug policy reform movement" for their insistence that we could make more drugs legal without having more addiction."

If you want to try to make an argument, based on a comprehensive analysis of all of the pertinent factors, that drug legalization would harm the world community more than help it (or even limit it to the U.S.) go ahead. You will fail.

If, instead and as you seem to suggest, you're prepared to argue that more people will hurt themselves under legalization than prohibition, I will deny you the right to even try. When did God die and leave you in charge of my life?

[LorettaSingbiel]

Dr. Bertha Madras opposes the use of Narcan in overdose-rescue programs.

We certainly can't have drug addicts instantly reversing overdoses. The LAST thing drug addicts need is "enablers" (of saving their lives).

The ONLY "life with inherent quality and matchless value" is in vitro or in utero. Upon reaching viability, however, proceed with caution. Enter (this country) at your OWN risk!

Stay safe, healthy and happy,
Love, Loretta

[Mormondude]

Medical doctors have a government authorized monopoly on dispensing drugs. They aren't going to allow anything or anyone to challenge that.

I mean, how hard is it to prescribe 10 days worth of amoxicillin? Why can't a pharmacist do that? The only reason is because the medical lobby is extremely powerful, and they defend their monopoly with every fiber of their being.

You get the same feeling from this story. They don't want a non-doctor dispensing antidotes, because then they don't get paid.

They aren't railing against the $7.50 kit, they're fighting against the loss of tens of thousands of dollars worth of emergency room expenses.