As we all know, the abuse of opioids now is extremely exponential. Tracey Helton, also known as the "Heroin heroine", is taking a different approach to the abuse of opioid usage today. She mails out dosages of the generic version of the drug, which revives people of an overdose, only if they want it. Although she is aware that what she is doing is illegal, she is saving many lives. "This epidemic kills tens of thousands of people in the US each year", says CNN. She feels as if the law is wrong and being a "civil disobedience" by counting what she is doing as illegal. There is a case in which Helton helped save a young mans life. Ryan Coleman, 36, met Helton in 2013. She mailed him the drug called Naloxone, to use in case of an overdose. Coleman explained to his roommate how to use the drug if he ever overdosed, and needed to be revived. A case happened where Coleman did overdose, and his roommate injected him with the Naloxone, and he turned pink again and was revived. The same event happened another time, however, this time Coleman was with another friend, and he was the one who overdosed. This time, the Naloxone did not work until the third time. It did end up finally saving his friend on the third time. However, I have some skeptic in this method of saving young people from opioid abuse. This method produced by Helton still allows the people to do the drugs just as much as they were before, but it gives them the reassurance that there is a backbone there that will save their life. In this case, after these two events happened to Coleman, he decided to become sober, but he was lucky. The reverse drug worked for him in both overdoses, but for some, they might not get that second chance.
I believe the overall motive Helton is trying to proclaim is a good start. However, in my opinion, it could also rub people the wrong way in a certain sense. Some might take this method as a lesson learned, that they cannot live off this reverse drug their whole life and that they should just quit using drugs in general. Others might use it as just a simple crutch in their life. Something that enables them to keep doing what they do in their every-day lives, but helps them stay alive along the way. Helton's method could go two ways. As readers, which route do you think drug abusers might be prone to lean towards more?
http://www.cnn.com/2017/10/02/health/heroin-heroine-naloxone-eprise-profile/index.html
As mentioned in a previous comment, I'm the CFO of a Biomedical Research Laboratory and we serve as a the drug and vaccine developer for the Department of Defense. One of our researchers has an on going research study that vaccinates subjects against heroin and HIV. Mechanically, the vaccine causes users to no longer get high and instead they get a mild headache and flu like symptoms whenever they shoot themselves up with the drug. In concert with the heroin vaccine, there vaccine in testing also protects against HIV which is a common risk with IV drug users.
ReplyDeleteRather than hand out "hangover" cures and encourage users to keep using, lets give them a vaccine that takes away the high. They'll stop all by themselves!
http://www.wrair.army.mil/NIDAsupportsWRAIR.aspx?id=ANews
DeleteForgot to post the link to the study announcement!
very interesting.
DeleteI hadn't heard of this Heroine. I'm bookmarking that article for further thought.
ReplyDeleteWhere would you draw lines for this behavior? Would allow other "heroines" to send out prescription drugs to untrained people? It's an interesting puzzle.