Narcan Parties. I'd like to say I'm surprised. But I'm not.

August 03, 2017, 05:32 PM

I've never been a huge proponent of the push to provide naloxone to everybody that can thinks they should have it. I wrote a program for my old PD, at the request of the chief, but they didn't finish it and get it on the road until after I left. But in a lot of places anybody can get it for free, and police agencies carry it.

Why should police carry Narcan, if they don't carry epinephrine, atropine, glucagon, D50, or flumazenil? Those drugs actually are required to save people's lives. Narcan is not immediately required to save them. All people have to do is give rescue breaths until an ambulance gets there, and let it be their problem. But the one drug that police across the nation are being trained to use is Narcan (not that I think they should have to use any of them--just pointing out the silliness of the situation).

That's an aside to this article, which is kinda local for me. I'd say this should have been predictable.

quote:
'NARCAN PARTIES:' Drug users overdosing to be brought back to life
by: Tina Terry Updated: Aug 3, 2017 - 5:54 PM

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SALISBURY, N.C. - Rowan County emergency workers expressed frustration Thursday over "Narcan parties" that they said are increasing in the area.

They said they've noticed the spike over the past six months.

"With Narcan readily available and over the counter now, they are having group gatherings called Narcan parties,” said Chris Richardson, Emergency Management Services battalion chief for Rowan County. “They will have numerous people around.”

He said party-goers get high in houses or cars in public places, then an emergency responder with Narcan will try to revive them, giving the drug user a rush.

He said a few weeks ago that a couple overdosed on heroin at a shopping center, knowing an ambulance with Narcan was just a call away.

"Picked up the drug, didn't want to wait to get to their residence, both wanted to use, they did it in a public place so they would be found," Richardson said.

The numbers of overdoses are staggering.

There were 292 calls in 2016 in Rowan County when Narcan was administered.

This year, through June, they've already had 284 calls a 94 percent increase.

http://www.wsoctv.com/news/loc...ck-to-life/580740050

Rowan County isn't a big place. It's got about 140,000 people. That's one big WTF.

August 03, 2017, 05:53 PM

RNshooter

"A rush"?
The only feeling you get from Narcan is the absence of opioid in your system. And withdrawal symptoms, if you're dependent on them, meaning instantly "dope sick".

Seems like bad journalism.

Bruce

"The designer of the gun had clearly not been instructed to beat about the bush. 'Make it evil,' he'd been told. 'Make it totally clear that this gun has a right end and a wrong end. Make it totally clear to anyone standing at the wrong end that things are going badly for them. If that means sticking all sort of spikes and prongs and blackened bits all over it then so be it. This is not a gun for hanging over the fireplace or sticking in the umbrella stand, it is a gun for going out and making people miserable with." -Douglas Adams

“It is just as difficult and dangerous to try to free a people that wants to remain servile as it is to try to enslave a people that wants to remain free."
-Niccolo Machiavelli

The trouble with fighting for human freedom is that one spends most of one's time defending scoundrels. For it is against scoundrels that oppressive laws are first aimed, and oppression must be stopped at the beginning if it is to be stopped at all. -Mencken

August 03, 2017, 05:59 PM

chongosuerte

quote:
Originally posted by RNshooter:
"A rush"?
The only feeling you get from Narcan is the absence of opioid in your system. And withdrawal symptoms, if you're dependent on them, meaning instantly "dope sick".

Seems like bad journalism.

Bruce

I take it to mean the new rush is knowing they are going to OD, and hoping they get Narcan'd before they die.

But I fully agree that 'bad journalism' is just as likely

August 03, 2017, 07:05 PM

Fenris

quote:
Originally posted by chongosuerte:
Why should police carry Narcan, if they don't carry epinephrine, atropine, glucagon, D50, or flumazenil?

The police would be able to carry all of those medications plus more if they didn't insist on carrying guns, pepper spray, Tasers, handcuffs, radios and body armor.

August 03, 2017, 07:10 PM

sgalczyn

Narcan is for the child that ACCIDENTALLY finds medication.....let God take care of the junkies and addicts.

August 03, 2017, 07:13 PM

ZSMICHAEL

quote:
The police would be able to carry all of those medications plus more if they didn't insist on carrying guns, pepper spray, Tasers, handcuffs, radios and body armor.

I thought social work was part of their job description as First Responders. Maybe they could hand out pamphlets on how drugs are bad. The Mississippi Governor announced today a new program that was termed battling Opiate addiction. I was surprised since the state just cut the budget for addiction and mental health programs. Later in the article it read that the MHP would undergo training to administer Narcan. Another misguided attempt by government, to try and solve a problem created by the Pharmaceutical Industry in the mid 90s.

August 03, 2017, 07:16 PM

braillediver

quote:
Originally posted by sgalczyn:
Narcan is for the child that ACCIDENTALLY finds medication.....let God take care of the junkies and addicts.

That's what I wanted to say but lacked the eloquence.

August 03, 2017, 07:25 PM

sgalczyn

quote:
Originally posted by braillediver:
quote:
Originally posted by sgalczyn:
Narcan is for the child that ACCIDENTALLY finds medication.....let God take care of the junkies and addicts.

That's what I wanted to say but lacked the eloquence.

Well.....I'm agnostic so loosely translated I mean "Let em die".

August 03, 2017, 07:36 PM

jljones

Now you guys have done it. Que up the "I hope it never happens to your family" or "Why Little Johnny can't quit and you guys are monsters" in 3, 2, 1......

August 03, 2017, 07:38 PM

Skull Leader

I look at narcan being carried by cops more like an IFAK. If I am exposed to fentanyl during my duties as a LEO I want to have it readily available and have my coworkers trained to administer it to me.

http://www.nydailynews.com/new...yl-article-1.3170821

August 03, 2017, 07:56 PM

chongosuerte

quote:
Originally posted by Skull Leader:
I look at narcan being carried by cops more like an IFAK. If I am exposed to fentanyl during my duties as a LEO I want to have it readily available and have my coworkers trained to administer it to me.

http://www.nydailynews.com/new...yl-article-1.3170821

Your point is not wrong, however narcan is not needed in those situations. Rescue breaths every 3 to 5 seconds by the other officers until the fire dept or EMTs get there works just as well.

August 03, 2017, 08:11 PM

sigfreund

Ah. More unintended consequences.

I was thinking, “I’m glad I have no responsibility for anticipating such things,” but then I realized that it wouldn’t make the slightest difference if a few far-sighted people did. Once someone gets an idea that enough people think is a good one, they take on an unkillable life of their own.

But I am curious how it is that the pharmaceutical companies are to blame for opioid addiction. Does that mean the gun and ammunition manufactures are to blame for the murder rate?

I’m so confused.

As an old guy, I’m also starting to wonder what effect this crackdown on opiates might have on me. If, for example, I develop cancer, will doctors be unable to prescribe the painkillers that would make my passing a little easier? But I guess it is more important that other people be kept from doing what they want to their bodies.

August 03, 2017, 08:33 PM

ZSMICHAEL

quote:
But I am curious how it is that the pharmaceutical companies are to blame for opioid addiction. Does that mean the gun and ammunition manufactures are to blame for the murder rate? I’m so confused.

NO. Not a good analogy. Purdue Pharma marketed Oxycodone as a long acting drug that was not addicting for patients in pain. They convinced Doctors of its safety and it was prescribed frequently. Prior to Oxycodone, opiates were not prescribed much at all. A few top executives went to jail as a result. Thousands of Americans are addicted to opiates, and this is the result.

For those interested in the role of Big Pharma here is the link to one story.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05...ness/11drug-web.html

August 03, 2017, 08:49 PM

GGF

Well could we just give Narcan to the drug addicts that were "turning their life around" when they OD'd?

I always hear that when the reporter interviews a family member of a overdose "victim" so that could be a sign they can have some.

OK, maybe not.

GGF

August 03, 2017, 08:59 PM

Chowser

I am like sgalczyn and Skull Leader.

My narcan is primarily for me. Was testing substances the other day and kept my narcan close. I was safe. It was only cocaine.

August 03, 2017, 08:59 PM

radioman

Drug addicts are the new victims of society.

Take this twat, a teacher who brought drugs to school...
http://www.oregonlive.com/clac...ers_arrest_when.html

now she's somehow a victim.

here is the original report about her, before the news media decided they loved her:
http://www.oregonlive.com/clac...on_teacher_arre.html

August 03, 2017, 09:07 PM

RNshooter

quote:

Your point is not wrong, however narcan is not needed in those situations. Rescue breaths every 3 to 5 seconds by the other officers until the fire dept or EMTs get there works just as well.

I guess if you want to be kissed by your coworkers every 3 to 5 seconds, it's just as good.
NOT that there's anything wrong with that...
(Ducking and running)

Bruce

August 03, 2017, 10:07 PM

1s1k

It's a sad state of affairs when Narcan is needed so often. I just read that 1/3 of all Americans have use opiates within the last year.

What happened that so many people need a mind altering substance to get through the day. Sure there are people that really need it but everyone that takes it thinks they need it.

August 04, 2017, 08:13 AM

jljones

quote:
Originally posted by ZSMICHAEL:
quote:
But I am curious how it is that the pharmaceutical companies are to blame for opioid addiction. Does that mean the gun and ammunition manufactures are to blame for the murder rate? I’m so confused.

NO. Not a good analogy. Purdue Pharma marketed Oxycodone as a long acting drug that was not addicting for patients in pain. They convinced Doctors of its safety and it was prescribed frequently. Prior to Oxycodone, opiates were not prescribed much at all. A few top executives went to jail as a result. Thousands of Americans are addicted to opiates, and this is the result.

For those interested in the role of Big Pharma here is the link to one story.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05...ness/11drug-web.html

Yeah, I've got to go with BS on that one. Something that happened years ago might have set the stage in a small way, but it isn't responsible. Saying that somehow they are responsible is right on track with blaming guns for violence. It ignores many key factors such as the lack of desire for society to hold people responsible for their actions, the death spiral of the US mental health system, the moral decay of personal responsibility, thirty years worth of a lack of parenting, eight years of NON STOP creation of new rationalizations of why these people are victims and shouldn't be held accountable for their actions, and a broken justice system that doesn't seem interested in incarcerating people for breaking the law.

Outreach isn't the answer here. But, by God, it isn't working because we just haven't thrown enough of your money at it. Despite the fact that these people do not care about the risks they are taking, so it is money down a well. And anyone who refuses to want to spend the money on it is a monster.