1 December 2010

Giving narcan to junkies under consideration

| johnboy
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In the strange land of weasel words that is drug harm minimisation the ABC is raking over a proposal to “trial” (meaning “start”) distributing the anti-overdose drug Narcan to heroin users.

Ms Fowlie says the scheme would be part of a broad training and education campaign to help prevent overdose deaths.

“We’d look at distributing the Naloxone with the intention of making it a fixture in our response to the harms caused by opioids,” she said.

Katy Gallagher is reportedly keen but hasn’t figured out how to do it yet:

Ms Gallagher says she is working with government departments and community groups to determine if and how the scheme can be trialed in the ACT.

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p1 said :

The Nexus said :

By the tone of all the above posts, other than Breda, none of you would bother to resuscitate your siblings or friends if they were using heroin….

I love the way you accuse us all of thoughtlessly tarring everyone with the same brush, while doing exactly that yourself.

Fair call, kettle = pot etc… I look forward to seeing some more intelligent debate

The Nexus said :

By the tone of all the above posts, other than Breda, none of you would bother to resuscitate your siblings or friends if they were using heroin….

I love the way you accuse us all of thoughtlessly tarring everyone with the same brush, while doing exactly that yourself.

My god…What has happened to this city? Cant anyone remember the late 90’s, when we all learned the hard way that the term junkies, and the stereotypical image that it conjures up, was blown out of the water? The AS06 user, the senior Sergent’s daughter, the MLAs niece, your brother…And Samson13, could you ask an ambo, and a heroin user, what it feels like to have Narcan injected into you when you have opiates on board? In the years I have worked in the Community sector, I have talked to people (yes, people,not junkies)who have….imagine waking up from a coma suddenly, feeling extremely sick, with no idea what just happened to you, and realizing that you have just about died… Fair enough, the ambos I know have said that it really crap to save a life and then be told to f@#$ off, but none have said they would rather have left them to die, just cause they didnt say thanks…anyway, that’s another story. By the tone of all the above posts, other than Breda, none of you would bother to resuscitate your siblings or friends if they were using heroin….I wonder how you would react if it was alcohol poisoning? or a dodgy ecstasy pill? So what do you care if people have access to a life saving device, such as defibrillators in most malls? No skin of your nose, you’d just walk past anyway…

Put it in the water supply at Stuart flats…

erv said :

p1 said :

Maybe if the government put some sort of slow release narcan implant under the skin of all the junkies, we wouldn’t need the methadone program?

Do they still feel the effects of methadone if they have narcan? If not they will have major withdrawals. Which I assume means no junkie would want narcan?

I imagine there a several problems with that random idea, or the doctors would be offering it. But I was just floating random thoughts.

georgesgenitals6:57 am 02 Dec 10

breda said :

Since when did using heroin become a crime worthy of the death sentence?

Since junkies started injecting an illegal drug into their arm in high enough concentration to kill them.

erv said :

p1 said :

Maybe if the government put some sort of slow release narcan implant under the skin of all the junkies, we wouldn’t need the methadone program?

Do they still feel the effects of methadone if they have narcan? If not they will have major withdrawals. Which I assume means no junkie would want narcan?

No user would want it any old time, but if they discovered overdosing then I think a hit of narcan is preferable to death. You could package it like an epipen, a safe, one shot, disposable needle that a bystander just has to administer to a muscle. It would be quicker than calling for an ambulance.

p1 said :

Maybe if the government put some sort of slow release narcan implant under the skin of all the junkies, we wouldn’t need the methadone program?

Do they still feel the effects of methadone if they have narcan? If not they will have major withdrawals. Which I assume means no junkie would want narcan?

I was talking to my brother about some of the ODs he found during his time at his last job. He said they kept the security guards around while the Ambos were still there because the druggies came out of it really quick and were really unhappy about having their high stolen. Some of them were pretty violent about it.

His feeling was that they would rather have died than lose the high. These people don’t want the narcan and they will go to some effort to make sure they don’t get high anywhere near where it might get used on them.

It is a sensible idea. Using ‘junkies’ in the post heading misrepresents what is being suggested. Not all heroin users are junkies. In fact, casual or inexperienced users are more at risk of overdose because they have lower tolerance and less information about the strength of what they use.

Since when did using heroin become a crime worthy of the death sentence?

Disclaimer – I have never used heroin.

I was under the impression that taking Heroin was a solo activity, meaning rarely is anyone around to revive an OD .. Doesn’t make much sense to me, but if someone legitimately claims they can put it to good use, why not?

Maybe if the government put some sort of slow release narcan implant under the skin of all the junkies, we wouldn’t need the methadone program?

Captain RAAF3:13 pm 01 Dec 10

By Narcan, I assume you mean cyanide?

One thing’s for sure – if Narcan has any monetary value or pharmacological value (beyond its primary purpose) then the junkies will soon be all over it.

can it be injected directly into the heart, just for funseys?

This will be fun – watching junkies trying to “rescue” other junkies, parents trying to “intervene” in their child’s habits, what could possibly go wrong?

Junkies don’t like narcan – they wake up cross that they’ve lost their high.

wish there was a narcan for overdose of Harcourt 9% Cider

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