Need for Naloxone

 

MAX TRAN Staff Writers

 

The Drug Enforcement Administration advised that first responders should always carry naloxone, an antidote to opioid overdose. This move will likely make sure that many lives are saved, and it is obvious such plans should be implemented.

Opioids have been a long standing problem among many communities, and is such an issue that President Trump has declared it as a “national public health emergency.”

According to the National Institute of Drug Abuse, on average 130 people die as a result of opioid overdose in the U.S. each year. Drugs like Oxycontin, a kind of opioid, are often abused by many after prolonged and extensive use. One opioid addict even admitted that he broke his own bones just to get a prescription for more opioids to satisfy his addiction.

Chris Green, an patient who was exposed to huge amounts of opioids, was able to fully recover with the help of naloxone. Green reflects the important reason why naloxone is needed; the sudden nature of a opioid overdose. Many victims of opioid overdose die by the time they reached the hospital because of the lack of a immediate response. Without this substance, overdose deaths that could have been avoided will still happen, increasing the amount of tragic deaths due to opioids.