Perhaps the person’s skin color changes. A grayish undertone may creep in, or it may have a bluish tint. Bubbles appear on the lips when excess fluid accumulates in the mouth and lungs and mixes with air. You may also hear a light snoring sound. These are some of the main symptoms of overdose. The drugs that cause the reaction may be different, but the symptoms appear the same. “An overdose is an overdose,” Soma Snake Oil, co-founder of the harm-reduction organization Sidewalk Project, told me.
However, although the symptoms of the overdose have not changed, the overdose can be reversed quickly, and thanks to the availability of naloxone, which was approved for over-the-counter sale as Narcan in late March, it has the ability to treat overdose. is improving. The move is at least partly due to changes in the overall overdose landscape in the United States over the past few decades.the United States entered its territory fourth wave The death toll is different now than it was during the opioid crisis. Overdose is not what it used to be. steadily increasing Although it has been going on for many years, this wave is also known as “.time of overdose‘ I’ve seen. Highest number of fatal overdoses not yet. “I think what makes this current crisis so special is the sheer number of overdoses,” said John Pamplin II, an epidemiologist at Columbia University’s School of Public Health. And it’s happening because the drugs have changed as well. “It’s not necessarily more drug use,” said Emily Bruzelius, an epidemiology researcher at the Columbia School of Public Health. “The opioids that people are using today are incredibly powerful, making them more likely to cause an overdose,” she said.
As a result, anyone who uses drugs is more likely than ever to overdose. “There is no such thing as an isolated demographic,” Bruzelius said. “It’s having a huge impact on everyone right now.”
The origins of the opioid crisis can be traced back to 1999. As doctors began to prescribe more opioids, he also began to prescribe OxyContin for non-cancer-related pain only, starting in 1999. About 670,000 in 1997, 6.2 million in 2002– Associated deaths increased rapidly.The number of deaths also increased during the same period. almost 30 percent, up to nearly 9,000. This first wave primarily affected whites. By 2010, mortality from opioids will be more than twice as high more white than black.
That year saw the start of a second wave, with the most dramatic increase in heroin overdose deaths. by 2015, Heroin overdose deaths have surpassed opioid pill deaths. This time, total opioid mortality increased for both blacks and whites.Mortality increased at least on average 30% annually from 2010And since 2013, it has accelerated even further. During the same period, illegally manufactured fentanyl increased. synthetic opioids Approved as a pain reliever, it was mixed with heroin, counterfeit pills, cocaine and other drugs. Many people taking these drugs were completely unaware that they were taking fentanyl, leading to a third wave of overdoses. Mortality soared. 2017 caused by synthetic opioids Over 28,000 deadMeanwhile, the number of deaths from opioid drug and heroin overdoses leveled off at about 15,000.The demographics of the crisis will also continue to shift, and by 2020 Mortality increases fastest Pamplin said black and indigenous Americans experience higher death rates than white Americans.
of new fourth wave It is characterized by mixing more different drugs. “People are overdosing from cocaine and fentanyl or methamphetamine and fentanyl or methamphetamine and fentanyl and heroin,” Bruzelius told me. Recently, xylazine (a non-opiate sedative, also known as “Trunk”) has made its way into the fentanyl supply, resulting in DEA deadliest threat ever.
This is the background behind the FDA’s approval of Narcan for over-the-counter sales. Narcan has packaged naloxone as a nasal spray and has been approved by the FDA claimed The approval “could help improve access to naloxone, increase the number of places where it is available, and reduce overdose deaths across the country,” he said. Naloxone blocks the effects of opiates in the body by binding to opioid receptors. This reverses the effects of the overdose and restores normal breathing.
But US drug policy tends to swing from extreme to extreme like a pendulum, University of North Florida historian David Courtright told me. policy. Already, some critics of Narcan’s availability have called for limiting its use on the grounds that effective overdose treatments may encourage drug use. has “no scientific or empirical backing,” Bruzelius said. This is where the simplest logic holds. If overdose is affecting every community in America, it’s better to have a cure available everywhere.