An increase in drug overdose deaths is putting a strain on first responders, prompting the development of new strategies to better help people with addiction and training mechanisms to teach paramedics, police and firefighters how to cope with what they experience on the job once they are off the clock.
College campuses have not gone untouched when it comes to the opioid epidemic.
No single policy can completely eradicate drug abuse by young adults.
Harm reduction, however, is an evidence-based theory that attempts to mitigate the effects of these problems. These policies create safer environments in the event of emergencies, such as overdoses, and equip people to keep themselves safe if they decide to take part in risky behaviors.
“When we read about our children, our grandchildren being addicted to heroin or they end up [with] synthetic fentanyl, oftentimes, unfortunately, they started by diverting or using these prescription pain medicines that were in somebody’s home that weren’t being used,” said Dr. Jeffrey Hodrick, an orthopedic surgeon at Southern Joint Replacement Institute. “So they’re kept in your cabinet for really no great reason other than I’m keeping it in my cabinet just in case I need it.“
New research suggests more than one in five “opioid-naïve” patients continue to use the pain medication three months after having a procedure, underscoring the often-overlooked role surgery plays in the opioid epidemic.
The Alliance for Substance Abuse Progress in Bartholomew County is hoping to find volunteers to fill several open positions at the ASAP Hub.
The ASAP Hub is a recovery resource center for individuals, families, and friends affected by substance use disorders. The Hub is a centralized location to get help getting a person with an addiction into recovery.
It feels like drinking and dating are inextricably intertwined. First dates are often at bars, or at least at restaurants where the parties can order a cocktail to quell their nerves and help them open up. Some coffee shops and movie theaters even serve alcohol. But as ubiquitous as drinking seems, there are plenty of people who choose not to imbibe. A Morning Consult poll from 2019 found that 43% of Americans over 21 don’t even drink.
Achieving the success that is vital on so many levels requires we do the work to lift the stigma and shame we have attached to substance abuse. Addiction is not a moral shortcoming; it is a deadly illness.
The medication naloxone is so effective at saving the lives of opioid overdose victims that some people worry that it might make drug users think heroin and related drugs are no longer risky.
But a new study suggests that is not the case.
As a synthetic opioid, fentanyl is extremely potent, and is 50 to 100 times stronger and more potent than other opiates. This makes it much easier to take too much of the drug if using it outside of a professional medical setting.
The COVID-19 pandemic began to push conversations about SUDs into the open as drug and alcohol use, along with deaths from overdoses, soared. Loneliness, confusion and unemployment caused more people to either start using or increase their use of drugs or alcohol at a time when treatment centers and support groups were shuttered due to the public health crisis.