A Response to Narcan Bashing

             It's not news that the nation is experiencing an opiate epidemic of unprecedented scale. Nationally, admissions for people struggling with opiates painkillers other than heroin has gone up 430 percent from 1999-2009. Deaths from opiate overdoses tripled nationally between 2000 and 2010. Overdoses are now the leading cause of injury-related deaths, surpassing auto accidents. Nowhere is this more apparent than right here in Massachusetts.

            When police departments on Cape Cod began to carry Narcan with them, it was widely considered a life saving measure and right away we began to hear stories of police officers reviving and saving people’s lives that might have been otherwise lost. The popular life-saving program has been received well by both the law-enforcement community and the medical community. Recently I have begun to see articles that criticize the policy and even make fun of it. The Real Cape Cod, which is a collective of unnamed authors, recently posted two articles about law-enforcement carrying Narcan. I would usually dismiss the online ramblings of anonymous authors, but the articles seemed to strike a nerve on both sides of the issue. The responses to the articles showcased a lot of misinformation about the life-saving measure, however most importantly it showed that the issue drew a lot of attention and passion.

            Most of the people opposed to the use of Narcan by police stuck to a few key arguments. The first argument claims that this new policy will make addicts feel entitled. The idea being that the police reviving overdose victims will eventually make them expect it and remove the risk of death as a deterrent. I have heard this argument multiple times. On the surface it seems like a fairly reasonable conjecture, however it relies on several faulty assumptions. The first assumption made is that when an overdose victim receives Narcan it's easy and painless. The truth is that when an overdose victim receives Narcan they go into immediate withdrawal, which is some of the worst pain a person can ever experience. Assuming the overdose victim has been revived; they are now withdrawing and have to deal with a police officer - a situation no addict ever wants to be in. The biggest assumption made is that the risk of death deters addicts from using drugs as heavily as they could. The evidence surrounding the argument is non-existent. Ziltch. Nada. Not a single study has ever backed up this claim. After all, do people drive faster knowing that wearing a seat belt greatly increases their chances of surviving an accident? Do college students drink heavier, knowing that if they get alcohol poisoning they can just get their stomach pumped? Obviously not, and the same holds true for an opiate addict.

            The second argument I have heard repeated over and over is the claim that providing police officers with Narcan forces them to balance too many responsibilities. The idea being that they are suddenly doing the jobs of EMT's or doctors and this will supersede their priorities as law enforcement. This is ludicrous. Seeing as it was the Quincy Police Department that lobbied the Massachusetts health department for the money and training to administer the drug themselves. Officers responding the to scenes of overdoses were fed up with watching good people die while waiting for an ambulance. Especially when the antidote was cheap, harmless, and easily administered.  In the case of an overdose, “time is brain” meaning a couple of minutes can mean the difference between death or a coma and a full recovery. Police often use defibrillators or epipens during emergency situation, and Quincy police felt that Narcan was no different. Quincy saw a 70 percent drop in fatal overdoses since the program began. Towns across Massachusetts began using Quincy as a model, due to its unprecedented success. Rather than police feeling like they were bogged down with responsibilities many have come forward saying that the act of reviving someone been a profound experience.

            Just recently the Cape has been hit with a rash of overdoses many of which would have been fatal had it not been for Narcan administered by law enforcement. I understand that combating the opiate epidemic is not going to be pretty, but what surprises me is the lack of compassion and empathy that some people have. As a community, we have to remind ourselves that we are talking about the value of human life.  This is not happening in another country, it is happening in our neighborhoods, it is happening to our children, and our loved ones. I commend the pragmatic policy-making that has been taking place in Massachusetts and I have faith that we will continue down the right path. I know for myself, I would not be here if first responders did not have Narcan on them. The world would have one less son, one less brother, one less neighbor, and one less editorial.