Camden heroin overdose seminar addresses naloxone use, addiction, prevention

Transcription

1 South Jersey Times Camden heroin overdose seminar addresses naloxone use, addiction, prevention Phil Davis/South Jersey Times February 22, 2014 CAMDEN In a small room inside a Camden building stationed next to a church in an underdeveloped area on 7th street in Camden, a number of parents and relatives are gathered on Saturday for one of the first attempts to help truly combat the consequences of heroin addiction on a civilian level. The topic is naloxone, a drug that has been administered in hospitals around the country that can combat the effects of a heroin overdose.

2 Since Gov. Chris Christie signed the Overdose Prevention Act into law in May, the drug is being made more available for civilians so they can respond to potential heroin overdoses. So in a room of about 20 to 30 people, many of whom are parents of children who have overdosed on heroin in the past, an Atlantic City nurse is making makeshift medics out of a captive audience. Run by the South Jersey AIDS Alliance, the seminar set up a situation that is all too familiar for I think lifting that stigma is the most important thing everyone in the audience. They see their friend or relative starting to seize up and stop breathing after injecting themselves with heroin and they don t know if paramedics are going to arrive on the scene quickly enough. That s where Saturday s naloxone training comes into play. Civilians who complete naloxone training, like the one offered Saturday, can receive up to four packets with the necessary tools to administer the drug, which comes in two one-milliliter vials in each packet. The drug is meant to widen the window that overdosing victims have to recover from the effects of an overdose. According to Babette Richter, a Registered Nurse who works with the South Jersey AIDS Alliance, the drug has a higher affinity to attach itself to the receptors that opiates are typically linked to. While it isn t a cure, the drug blocks those receptors ability to become attached to the opiates for about 20 minutes, slowing down their effect on the user while they receive medical care. Doctors have used the drugs for years, serving multiple purposes like countering the effects painkillers have on their patients following successful surgeries. There are side effects to the drug, many of which mirror what already happens when a person is overdosing on heroin including dizziness, heart rhythm changes and seizures. All of the research shows that its impossible to overdose on, added Richter, saying that the administration of the drug does not interfere with any other medication a patient might require.

3 In much the same way a person would inject themselves with heroin, a friend or relative can stick a needle into the vial of naloxone and then into the arm of an overdose victim, possibly giving them another 20 minutes of life that could lead to a second chance to stop altogether. For something that has the potential to combat a problem that 669,000 people in the United States face each year every time they shoot up, according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, its distribution to civilians is caught up in a culture war over the vilification of drugs in America. New Jersey is one of the more progressive states when it comes to protecting drug users and spectators rights in the event of an overdose. In addition to the Overdose Prevention Act, the state s Good Samaritan Law also includes limited legal protections against the criminal prosecution of those who call 911 to report an overdose, along with the victims themselves. In many other states, such as Texas and Mississippi, those protections are not offered to the 911 caller or potential victim and they also do not participate in naloxone training and distribution programs. Additionally, in states like Texas with more stringent drug possession sentences, being convicted for possessing heroin could come with a two-year prison sentence and up to $10,000 in fines even for possessing just one vial or under one gram of heroin, according to the Drug Policy Alliance. The idea that drug users are on the same level as criminals who commit theft and robbery is one that permeated the conversations of those who have had someone close to them addicted to heroin. Richter spoke about a patient that she saw through the alliance s participation in the North American Syringe Exchange Network, which allows drug users in certain states, including New Jersey, to exchange used syringes for clean ones, which is meant to reduce the instances of sexually transmitted diseases that are spread through needle use.

4 The patient had a history of Schizophrenia which wasn t helped by the number of different prescription medications he had taken growing up. I don t like how I feel when I m not on them, but I don t like how I feel when I m on them, Richter recalled him saying. Eventually, the patient was left to his own devices where he would have to pay for the prescriptions himself. Unable to lead a stable lifestyle, and without a proper mental health care facility to turn to, he ended up on the streets as a regular heroin users because, as Richter described it, heroin was cheaper than the prescriptions. Now he just goes away from the world because that s all we can do, she added. Patty DiRenzo and Vincent Marchese, from Blackwood, were also at the event to tell the story of Sal Marchese, DiRenzo s son and Vincent s brother. Sal Marchese died at the age of 26 in Camden of a heroin overdose in 2010 after years of fighting his addiction. He had been to rehab programs across the state, designated as a high-risk for relapse, and faced many barriers in staying at those centers due to reductions in county funding for rehabilitation centers. DiRenzo even recalled having to lie about her late son being an alcoholic because it made it easier to get a bed at one of the state s rehabilitation centers than claiming to be a heroin addict looking for help. So we gave him a thing of vodka and just drove him up there, said DiRenzo.

5 For both Vincent Marchese and DiRenzo, reaching out to events like this is a way to talk to other families dealing with a relative who is fighting addiction about how to be proactive on their end before having to go through what they did in the 26-year-old's death. To me, (naloxone training) is just as important as CPR, said Vincent Marchese, who also supported syringe exchange programs. He said that when his brother's body was found, there was clear evidence that someone was with him and left, potentially because of the criminal stigma that surrounds drug use, even in cases of life or death. And while the Overdose Prevention Act was not law when Sal Marchese died in 2010, Vincent said that programs like the naloxone training on Saturday go a long way toward showing people they can be a participant in helping an overdose victim without fearing their own safety. I think lifting that stigma is the most important thing, added DiRenzo. As others spoke about their own trials and tribulations with their relative fighting addictions, telling stories about how they had to fight to pay off years of fines associated with being caught and struggling to find work if they had gone to prison as a result of their drug use, Richter said the funding to fight drug use is going in the wrong direction, favoring prisons over mental health facilities and prevention programs. We re not going to arrest our way out of this heroin problem, said Richter. --- Contact staff writer Phil Davis at or [email protected] 2014 NJ.com. All rights reserved.

6 Phil Davis/South Jersey Times By Phil Davis/South Jersey Times on February 22, 2014 at 4:17 PM, updated February 22, 2014 at 4:18 PM I think lifting that stigma is the most important thing. CAMDEN In a small room inside a Camden building stationed next to a church in an underdeveloped area on 7th street in Camden, a number of parents and relatives are gathered on Saturday for one of the first attempts to help truly combat the consequences of heroin addiction on a civilian level. The topic is naloxone, a drug that has been administered in hospitals around the country that can combat the effects of a heroin overdose. Since Gov. Chris Christie signed the Overdose Prevention Act into law in May, the drug is being made more available for civilians so they can respond to potential heroin overdoses. So in a room of about 20 to 30 people, many of whom are parents of children who have overdosed on heroin in the past, an Atlantic City nurse is making makeshift medics out of a captive audience. Run by the South Jersey AIDS Alliance, the seminar set up a situation that is all too familiar for I think lifting that stigma is the most important thing everyone in the audience. They see their friend or relative starting to seize up and stop breathing after injecting themselves with heroin and they don t know if paramedics are going to arrive on the scene quickly enough. That s where Saturday s naloxone training comes into play. Civilians who complete naloxone training, like the one offered Saturday, can receive up to four packets with the necessary tools to administer the drug, which comes in two one-milliliter vials in each packet. The drug is meant to widen the window that overdosing victims have to recover from the effects of an overdose. According to Babette Richter, a Registered Nurse who works with the South Jersey AIDS Alliance, the drug has a higher affinity to attach itself to the receptors that opiates are typically linked to.

7 While it isn t a cure, the drug blocks those receptors ability to become attached to the opiates for about 20 minutes, slowing down their effect on the user while they receive medical care. Doctors have used the drugs for years, serving multiple purposes like countering the effects painkillers have on their patients following successful surgeries. There are side effects to the drug, many of which mirror what already happens when a person is overdosing on heroin including dizziness, heart rhythm changes and seizures. All of the research shows that its impossible to overdose on, added Richter, saying that the administration of the drug does not interfere with any other medication a patient might require. In much the same way a person would inject themselves with heroin, a friend or relative can stick a needle into the vial of naloxone and then into the arm of an overdose victim, possibly giving them another 20 minutes of life that could lead to a second chance to stop altogether. For something that has the potential to combat a problem that 669,000 people in the United States face each year every time they shoot up, according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, its distribution to civilians is caught up in a culture war over the vilification of drugs in America. New Jersey is one of the more progressive states when it comes to protecting drug users and spectators rights in the event of an overdose. In addition to the Overdose Prevention Act, the state s Good Samaritan Law also includes limited legal protections against the criminal prosecution of those who call 911 to report an overdose, along with the victims themselves. In many other states, such as Texas and Mississippi, those protections are not offered to the 911 caller or potential victim and they also do not participate in naloxone training and distribution programs.

8 Additionally, in states like Texas with more stringent drug possession sentences, being convicted for possessing heroin could come with a two-year prison sentence and up to $10,000 in fines even for possessing just one vial or under one gram of heroin, according to the Drug Policy Alliance. The idea that drug users are on the same level as criminals who commit theft and robbery is one that permeated the conversations of those who have had someone close to them addicted to heroin. Richter spoke about a patient that she saw through the alliance s participation in the North American Syringe Exchange Network, which allows drug users in certain states, including New Jersey, to exchange used syringes for clean ones, which is meant to reduce the instances of sexually transmitted diseases that are spread through needle use. The patient had a history of Schizophrenia which wasn t helped by the number of different prescription medications he had taken growing up. I don t like how I feel when I m not on them, but I don t like how I feel when I m on them, Richter recalled him saying. Eventually, the patient was left to his own devices where he would have to pay for the prescriptions himself. Unable to lead a stable lifestyle, and without a proper mental health care facility to turn to, he ended up on the streets as a regular heroin users because, as Richter described it, heroin was cheaper than the prescriptions. Now he just goes away from the world because that s all we can do, she added. Patty DiRenzo and Vincent Marchese, from Blackwood, were also at the event to tell the story of Sal Marchese, DiRenzo s son and Vincent s brother. Sal Marchese died at the age of 26 in Camden of a heroin overdose in 2010 after years of fighting his addiction.

9 He had been to rehab programs across the state, designated as a high-risk for relapse, and faced many barriers in staying at those centers due to reductions in county funding for rehabilitation centers. DiRenzo even recalled having to lie about her late son being an alcoholic because it made it easier to get a bed at one of the state s rehabilitation centers than claiming to be a heroin addict looking for help. So we gave him a thing of vodka and just drove him up there, said DiRenzo. For both Vincent Marchese and DiRenzo, reaching out to events like this is a way to talk to other families dealing with a relative who is fighting addiction about how to be proactive on their end before having to go through what they did in the 26-year-old's death. To me, (naloxone training) is just as important as CPR, said Vincent Marchese, who also supported syringe exchange programs. He said that when his brother's body was found, there was clear evidence that someone was with him and left, potentially because of the criminal stigma that surrounds drug use, even in cases of life or death. And while the Overdose Prevention Act was not law when Sal Marchese died in 2010, Vincent said that programs like the naloxone training on Saturday go a long way toward showing people they can be a participant in helping an overdose victim without fearing their own safety. I think lifting that stigma is the most important thing, added DiRenzo. As others spoke about their own trials and tribulations with their relative fighting addictions, telling stories about how they had to fight to pay off years of fines associated with being caught and struggling to find work if they had gone to prison as a result of their drug use, Richter said the funding to fight drug use is going in the wrong direction, favoring prisons over mental health facilities and prevention programs.

10 We re not going to arrest our way out of this heroin problem, said Richter. --- Contact staff writer Phil Davis at or 2014 NJ.com. All rights reserved. Phil Davis/South Jersey Times By Phil Davis/South Jersey Times on February 22, 2014 at 4:17 PM, updated February 22, 2014 at 4:18 PM I think lifting that stigma is the most important thing. CAMDEN In a small room inside a Camden building stationed next to a church in an underdeveloped area on 7th street in Camden, a number of parents and relatives are gathered on Saturday for one of the first attempts to help truly combat the consequences of heroin addiction on a civilian level. The topic is naloxone, a drug that has been administered in hospitals around the country that can combat the effects of a heroin overdose. Since Gov. Chris Christie signed the Overdose Prevention Act into law in May, the drug is being made more available for civilians so they can respond to potential heroin overdoses. So in a room of about 20 to 30 people, many of whom are parents of children who have overdosed on heroin in the past, an Atlantic City nurse is making makeshift medics out of a captive audience. Run by the South Jersey AIDS Alliance, the seminar set up a situation that is all too familiar for I think lifting that stigma is the most important thing everyone in the audience. They see their friend or relative starting to seize up and stop breathing after injecting themselves with heroin and they don t know if paramedics are going to arrive on the scene quickly enough.

11 That s where Saturday s naloxone training comes into play. Civilians who complete naloxone training, like the one offered Saturday, can receive up to four packets with the necessary tools to administer the drug, which comes in two one-milliliter vials in each packet. The drug is meant to widen the window that overdosing victims have to recover from the effects of an overdose. According to Babette Richter, a Registered Nurse who works with the South Jersey AIDS Alliance, the drug has a higher affinity to attach itself to the receptors that opiates are typically linked to. While it isn t a cure, the drug blocks those receptors ability to become attached to the opiates for about 20 minutes, slowing down their effect on the user while they receive medical care. Doctors have used the drugs for years, serving multiple purposes like countering the effects painkillers have on their patients following successful surgeries. There are side effects to the drug, many of which mirror what already happens when a person is overdosing on heroin including dizziness, heart rhythm changes and seizures. All of the research shows that its impossible to overdose on, added Richter, saying that the administration of the drug does not interfere with any other medication a patient might require. In much the same way a person would inject themselves with heroin, a friend or relative can stick a needle into the vial of naloxone and then into the arm of an overdose victim, possibly giving them another 20 minutes of life that could lead to a second chance to stop altogether. For something that has the potential to combat a problem that 669,000 people in the United States face each year every time they shoot up, according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, its distribution to civilians is caught up in a culture war over the vilification of drugs in America.

12 New Jersey is one of the more progressive states when it comes to protecting drug users and spectators rights in the event of an overdose. In addition to the Overdose Prevention Act, the state s Good Samaritan Law also includes limited legal protections against the criminal prosecution of those who call 911 to report an overdose, along with the victims themselves. In many other states, such as Texas and Mississippi, those protections are not offered to the 911 caller or potential victim and they also do not participate in naloxone training and distribution programs. Additionally, in states like Texas with more stringent drug possession sentences, being convicted for possessing heroin could come with a two-year prison sentence and up to $10,000 in fines even for possessing just one vial or under one gram of heroin, according to the Drug Policy Alliance. The idea that drug users are on the same level as criminals who commit theft and robbery is one that permeated the conversations of those who have had someone close to them addicted to heroin. Richter spoke about a patient that she saw through the alliance s participation in the North American Syringe Exchange Network, which allows drug users in certain states, including New Jersey, to exchange used syringes for clean ones, which is meant to reduce the instances of sexually transmitted diseases that are spread through needle use. The patient had a history of Schizophrenia which wasn t helped by the number of different prescription medications he had taken growing up. I don t like how I feel when I m not on them, but I don t like how I feel when I m on them, Richter recalled him saying. Eventually, the patient was left to his own devices where he would have to pay for the prescriptions himself.

13 Unable to lead a stable lifestyle, and without a proper mental health care facility to turn to, he ended up on the streets as a regular heroin users because, as Richter described it, heroin was cheaper than the prescriptions. Now he just goes away from the world because that s all we can do, she added. Patty DiRenzo and Vincent Marchese, from Blackwood, were also at the event to tell the story of Sal Marchese, DiRenzo s son and Vincent s brother. Sal Marchese died at the age of 26 in Camden of a heroin overdose in 2010 after years of fighting his addiction. He had been to rehab programs across the state, designated as a high-risk for relapse, and faced many barriers in staying at those centers due to reductions in county funding for rehabilitation centers. DiRenzo even recalled having to lie about her late son being an alcoholic because it made it easier to get a bed at one of the state s rehabilitation centers than claiming to be a heroin addict looking for help. So we gave him a thing of vodka and just drove him up there, said DiRenzo. For both Vincent Marchese and DiRenzo, reaching out to events like this is a way to talk to other families dealing with a relative who is fighting addiction about how to be proactive on their end before having to go through what they did in the 26-year-old's death. To me, (naloxone training) is just as important as CPR, said Vincent Marchese, who also supported syringe exchange programs. He said that when his brother's body was found, there was clear evidence that someone was with him and left, potentially because of the criminal stigma that surrounds drug use, even in cases of life or death.

14 And while the Overdose Prevention Act was not law when Sal Marchese died in 2010, Vincent said that programs like the naloxone training on Saturday go a long way toward showing people they can be a participant in helping an overdose victim without fearing their own safety. I think lifting that stigma is the most important thing, added DiRenzo. As others spoke about their own trials and tribulations with their relative fighting addictions, telling stories about how they had to fight to pay off years of fines associated with being caught and struggling to find work if they had gone to prison as a result of their drug use, Richter said the funding to fight drug use is going in the wrong direction, favoring prisons over mental health facilities and prevention programs. We re not going to arrest our way out of this heroin problem, said Richter. --- Contact staff writer Phil Davis at or [email protected] 2014 NJ.com. All rights reserved.