Please read this carefully: Today, Pennsylvania is giving out naloxone to anyone that wants it. (This is nothing new, by the way. Counties and agencies have been doing this for years.) I have read many posts that do no not like this. I understand and I hear you.
Now hear the facts: opioids are a highly addictive drug. People are prescribed them everyday and many of those people become addicted at no fault of their own. Sometimes people make bad decisions because they are looking for a release or they are self medicating as a result of our crappy health care system. Addiction is nasty; it doesn't discriminate and it is a disease. When opioids get into our bodies it changes brain chemistry and we no longer have the ability to resist urges of using the drug. The problem with heroin is that you can build up a toleration to it and you need something stronger or more of it. Now enters fentanyl. This is a synthetic drug that is 50 to 100 times stronger than morphine. If you don't have a toleration to large amounts of opioids, fentanyl is deadly. Also, carfentanil (elephant tranquilizer) is 100 times stronger than fentanyl and is that much more deadly.
On to the social aspects of this: opioid overdoses are the biggest crisis in our society. People die everyday from these drugs and we keep pointing fingers instead of finding solutions. Naloxone is a reversal drug that can save thousands of lives.
People complain that if you let an addict live they will just do it again. Yes, that is right, it's called an addiction. The goal with naloxone is to keep someone alive after an overdose but the key is getting them into rehab facilities and help them to recover from the addiction. That requires a good healthcare system and a cooperating justice system. That relationship needs a lot of work in our country.
While we are on the healthcare idea: People say that is not right for drug users to get free help while others have to pay so much for common medications. Again, this is why our healthcare needs reform. Healthcare should be a right, not a privilege. And if it is a right then it should be offered equally to all. How we do that is a different story. Folks don't like the Affordable Healthcare Act, and that's fine, but how else are we going to offer healthcare to all? Also, these corporations that make billions for their shareholders that run insurance companies, pharmaceuticals, and hospital systems need to be controlled. Nobody should be making these crazy amounts of profits off of the healthcare system.
The last thing I will comment on this has to do with faith and our common respect for one another. Compassion is the hallmark of the mission of Jesus Christ and compassion is how we all should treat one another. Please read the story of the Good Samaritan and tell me what Jesus expects of us. Loving our neighbor doesn't have qualifiers and we cannot judge others for their actions even if they are mistakes.
Naloxone is a needed drug and it needs to be on our streets. We also need systems and organizations that are dedicated in helping those with addiction.
(If you want to make a comment please give respect to people that have lost loved ones to this epidemic and only post facts if you have a different opinion.) If you need help or know someone that is looking for help, please message me.
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