NARCAN - THE GREAT ENABLER

When a drug addict overdoses and dies, that addict, along with the potential crimes arising out of his addiction, is removed from society. When Narcan is introduced into the equation, the end result changes dramatically. The addict remains alive and well and free to continue on with his addiction. The probability of crime resulting from his addiction continues to threaten society. The widespread use and distribution of Narcan sends an encouraging message to current and future Heroin users - “not to worry …… if you overdose we have a neat product that will revive you and enable you to continue doing drugs with little risk.” Narcan serves to enable drug users. It minimizes one of the greatest dangers of drug use – death!

Drug users know very well where the path leads long before they start down it. They know the risks; they know the dangers. Yet they make a choice to defy the odds and do drugs. Addicts are not the innocent victims some like to portray them as. The only thing they're victims of are their own irresponsible decisions.

Let's stop saying the only bad guys are the drug dealers. Have you ever tried selling a bag of dried oak leaves? There isn't much of a market for those things. And drug dealers wouldn't exist if there wasn't a market and a high demand for the stuff they push. If it weren't for the foolish, irresponsible demand for illegal drugs coming from the addicts, there would be no drug dealers.

I don't subscribe to the bleeding heart theory that drug addiction is a “disease” any more than nicotine addiction is a disease. Labeling drug addiction as a disease is simply a way to provide an easy path for funneling taxpayer monies to the addicts and to programs designed to treat them. And it's an easy way to justify making Narcan available on every street corner, again at taxpayers' expense.

And let's stop fingering doctors as the chief culprits behind the opioid crisis. Millions of people are prescribed various painkillers for a variety of reasons and most use them responsibly with no resulting problems. Approximately 5% of those who use painkillers as prescribed become addicted to some extent. Many of those recognize the onset of addiction and take steps to insure it goes no further. The number of medical patients who use painkillers as directed and wind up with a full-blown addiction is relatively small. It's those who abuse the medicines by getting multiple prescriptions, giving or selling it to others or buying it illegally that present the real problem with prescription drugs.

Any damn fool can abuse legal drugs and any damn fool can seek out illegal drugs. And those who do are not victims and they are not riddled with some disease. They are indeed “damn fools” who have created a self-induced addiction for which they, and they alone, are responsible.