People are dying because of ignorance, not because of opioids
In many countries, including Switzerland, the Netherlands, Germany and Denmark, opioid treatment may include daily injections of heroin, just as a diabetic may receive daily insulin injections, along with treating the patient’s medical and psychosocial issues. These patients hold jobs, pay taxes and live long, healthy, productive lives. Yet in the U.S., such programs are not even discussed.
[For now] one simple solution [to save lives] is to offer free, anonymous drug-purity testing services. If a sample contains adulterants, users would be informed. These services already exist in places such as Belgium, Portugal, Spain and Switzerland, where the first goal is to keep users safe. Law-enforcement officers should also do such testing whenever they confiscate street drugs, and they should notify the community whenever potentially dangerous adulterants are found. In addition, the opioid overdose antidote naloxone should be made more affordable and readily available not just to first responders but also to opioid users and to their family and friends.
Original Article (Scientific American):
People Are Dying Because of Ignorance, not Because of Opioids
Artwork Fair Use: JRLibby