You can help reverse the overdose epidemic

The case for why we should all be carrying naloxone.

The fatal overdose epidemic in the US, which began in the 90s with increased overdoses on prescription opioids, finally looked like it was starting to take a turn in 2018. But then the covid pandemic hit, and amid increased isolation during lockdowns, fatal drug overdoses in the US skyrocketed, crossing 100,000 fatalities in a single year for the first time in 2021.

The main drivers of fatal overdoses over the last ten years are synthetic opioids, like fentanyl. Fentanyl is a highly potent narcotic that often gets mixed into the American drug supply to make drugs – ranging from heroin, to cocaine, to adderall – stronger and more addictive. The result is that huge numbers of people unknowingly consume a lethal dose of fentanyl laced into other drugs.

America’s “War on Drugs” and punitive approach to curbing drug use hasn’t solved this. So now American communities are turning to methods that emphasize “harm reduction” – creating environments for people with substance use disorder to find support, rather than punishment.

A big part of that is the distribution of the drug naloxone, also known as Narcan. Naloxone is an opioid-antagonist, and can temporarily reverse an opioid overdose as it’s happening. It does this by blocking opioid receptors in the brain.

Naloxone has been credited with saving tens of thousands of lives so far according to the CDC, and is a tool for fighting the ongoing overdose epidemic that some medical experts are now urging all Americans to have on hand.

Find harm reduction resources near you (US only):

Sources and further reading:

Note: The title of this video has been updated
Previous title: Why you should carry Narcan

[genericuser]

"You can always count on Americans to do the right thing... after they’ve tried everything else."

[penguin]

I personally knew several people that OD'd on narcotics. Everyone of them got addicted by LEGAL painkillers given by a doctor, and everyone of them tried to find help once addicted. The same doctors that got them hooked were not interested in fixing the problems they caused. Harm reduction can be a worthwhile endeavor, but fixing the root cause of the epidemic will save far more lives.

[pavarottiaardvark]

asking Americans to do something for the common good. Bold strategy.

[Big.kilogram]

There is a government initiative here in Australia where they did a trial of making it free, saw its benefits and now it’s free at participating pharmacies. I’m sorry it’s not free everywhere. It really should be.

[bubbaowww]

It’s clear a lot of the people in the comments are thinking about this issue for the very first time, and that’s okay. But no one, including this video, is proposing Narcan (or harm reduction) as the *only* solution. This is a legit crisis and it’s going to take multiple different strategies to fix. This is one of them. It doesn’t mean the situation is okay, just that we have to recognize what it is.

[davywavy]

Pretty interesting that Narcan is available over the counter in the US. In Germany it’s only available via a doctors prescription, can only be prescribed to addicts and has to be picked up in a pharmacy. This makes it way less prevalent and impossible for the general public to carry it, but on the other hand opioid overdoses are magnitudes less common here.

[mustbeaweful]

Tips:

- Always call 911 over a suspected OD
- Carry more than 2 doses. Some people need 3+ Naloxone nasal spray doses in order to come back
- Recommended to take a first aid course
- The person recovering may be agitated once they come back from their OD. That's normal. Don't take it personally

[qtcami]

my university provides Narcan free for students if you request it. I keep it on me on spring break (I live in FL) or at parties even though I don’t use drugs. I couldn’t handle losing someone I love if I know I could have prevented it. However, university staff has always treated me poorly when I requested it and I can see the pharmacy students whispering behind the counter. I imagine that discourages many from making use of these resources.

[mustbeaweful]

I notice in the comments that people are a bit uncomfortable with regular people having Naloxone on them. Thinking that governments and professionals should be tackling this.

Remember that your community is only as strong as the individuals who comprise it, and who are bold enough to keep it healthy. In our lifetime, we will need to protect eachother from violence, disease, and environmental catastrophies. Though governments and professionals have an important role to play, in the here and now we need eachother to survive and thrive. We cannot substitute ourselves.

[mattmccaughen]

As a former addict i agree literaly everyone i knew from then are dead 100+ people in 8 years thank god i had my kid she saved my life

[bogcom]

its deeply disturbing that a video like this is made, where the basic premise is that people can be dying on the streets from drug overdose anytime, anywhere. I do get that adressing the opioid epidemic is not within the scope of this video, since it is purely about harm reduction but the implicit acceptance of the situation is just dystopian.

[moritz]

Fun fact: Narcan is sold by the same company who is primarily responsible for the fentanyl epidemic

[notvio]

Title should be "Why you should carry Narcan in the US"

[Ashley-xulk]

Having Narcan available in the streets for emergencies are a great idea, but in the same time, asking citizens and businesses to have Narcan on them is very sad. The local, state, and federal government should be the ones preventing as many people as possible from getting drugs in the first place, and helping those that have a substance abuse problem such as rehabilitation programs. Citizens shouldn't have the burden place on them to help out their communities from a huge and complicated drug problem. Carrying Narcan around is a bandaid solution.

[DanniAllyssa]

I literally just took a narcan training yesterday. Keeping it in my bag ❤

[fbwsrd]

Great then a cop finds your narcan an assumes you have drugs

[sushicartman]

I literally saw someone's life get saved this week with Narcan after an overdose on the street in SF. I instinctually went to help to see if they needed any naloxone and my friend who was with me was confused because they had never heard of it. I grew up in Canada where it was legalized in 2016 and I can personally say that these PSAs save lives

[chrisspencer]

The Darwinist inside me thinks why I should carry narcan after all should we force predu pharma Johnson and Johnson to set up programs to rehabilitate users since they created this problem

Seem like the USA is letting pharma companies get paid twice off this crisis

[miskee]

America is amazing. Watching from Norway.

[jackie]

I wish we had Narcan nasal spray here in Canada. The widely available version of naloxone here is injectable. Let me tell you, when you have someone on the ground in front of you who is not breathing and turning blue while you're trying to draw up naloxone with a needle and syringe while your adrenaline is pumping and your hands are shaking is BRUTALLY HARD.