Overdose Awareness Month
Hello! Welcome to Overdosed a weekly newsletter on drug policy and people who use drugs by me, Diane Roznowski.
August is Overdose Awareness Month and I wanted to spend time this month talking more about overdoses. Unintentional drug overdoses are a leading cause of preventable death in the United States.
My older sister Emily died on December 3, 2016 from a fentanyl overdose. I think it’s really important to talk about how she died to prevent other families from experiencing what mine has.
Most overdose deaths today are caused by opioids like heroin and fentanyl. The most dangerous part of opioid overdoses is how they depress your respiratory system and stop your breathing. Without being able to breathe, your brain and other vital organs do not get the oxygen they need. The signs of an opioid overdose are relatively easy to recognize and may include constricted or “pinpoint” pupils, loss of consciousness, slow or shallow breathing, choking or gurgling sounds, limp body, and/or skin that is pale, cold, or blue.
If you notice these signs, you will need to react.
If the person is awake, do not let them go to sleep.
If they are not awake or if they are starting to lose consciousness, call 911. Stay with the person until help arrives. As of July 2018, all but five states had good samaritan drug overdose laws while these protections vary by location, they are all aimed at getting people the medical attention they need. All too often, overdose bystanders do not call for medical assistance for fear of being arrested for drug-related crimes.
If you have it, administer naloxone immediately. Naloxone is more commonly known by the brand name, Narcan, and is designed to rapidly reverse opioid overdoses. It is completely harmless if the person is not experiencing an opioid overdose. Naloxone comes in many forms including a nasal spray, auto-injector, and injecting the naloxone via a needle in a syringe. The nasal spray is usually the cheapest and easiest form to use. If you love someone who uses opioids or if you live in an area where opioid use is prevalent, you should consider carrying and being prepared to use naloxone. There are online training courses and many county and city health offices offer in-person training classes. Many states have issued blanket prescriptions for naloxone meaning that you can go to a pharmacy and get it over the counter. Many insurance companies will only make you pay a copay for it as well. To save yourself time, you may want to call pharmacies before you go to ensure they have it in stock.
Risks of Reversing Overdoses
There are a lot of misconceptions and inaccurate reporting done on the risks of reversing an overdose. The only two risks with reversing an overdose are not reversing it and not reversing it soon enough. If an overdose is not reversed, the person will die. If it is not reversed soon enough, they may have lasting brain damage from lack of oxygen.
You cannot experience an overdose by touching opioids or someone who has experienced an overdose and there are no credible reports of someone waking up from an overdose and attacking the person who revived them.
When an overdose has been reversed the person who was revived will most likely be very confused.
Overdoses can be scary, but we can all be prepared to help save someone from an overdose death. As always, I’d love to know what questions you have about this topic. You can respond to this email and let me know any questions you have about overdoses. I will most likely be taking next week off from the newsletter as I will be on vacation, but I’d like to continue talking about overdoses this month by answering your questions.
Further Reading
Drug Policy Alliance - Drug Overdose
National Institute on Drug Abuse - Naloxone—A Potential Lifesaver
World Health Organization - Information sheet on opioid overdose
Current Reading
The Seattle Times - Afraid of enabling drug use, Washington cities push back against needle exchanges: Sterile syringe programs are important but often misunderstood. This article highlights some common stigmatized thoughts about these programs while also sharing the realities of them. “Syringe exchanges have been shown to decrease infections and help people get into treatment. A 2000 study from Public Health – Seattle & King County found new users of syringe exchanges were five times as likely to enter drug treatment as those who don’t use exchanges, and those who use exchanges regularly were three times as likely to inject less.”
Slate - How a Big Pharma Lawsuit Could Succeed Where Big Tobacco Failed: As I’ve mentioned before, I’ve been interested in the litigation against big pharma for their role in the opioid epidemic. I’ve been conflicted about these cases because I worry a lot about the amount of money our government is spending on them. This article is great at highlighting some of my concerns while also demonstrating the potential these cases have to do good if the money is spent correctly.
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Until next time,
