Wisconsin has recently been bombarded with a surge in heroin and opioid usage, as has the rest of the country. Many states are drafting laws to start combating the encroaching epidemic. Gov. Scott Walker has signed seven bills that are a part of a package called Heroin Opiate Prevention and Education that are responsible and necessary. However, as the bills’ sponsor State Rep. John Nygren, R-Marinette, stated, HOPE agenda isn’t the silver bullet, but a step in the right direction and more has to be done.
One of the standout bills is the good Samaritan law. This means that if someone calls in a heroin overdose to the authorities, he or she cannot be arrested for heroin possession. This will end the fear of arrest that many users have when they feel like they are overdosing, which then leads to them not seeking emergency services, and more often than not, their death. However, the law that criminalizes the sale of opioids will appropriately remain in affect.
The most groundbreaking piece of legislation that Walker signed is the bill relating to naloxone availability. Naloxone, better known by its brand name Narcan, is an opioid antagonist. This means that the drug reduces the activity of opioid receptors in the body, which lessens the effects felt from opioids. The unique trait of Naloxone is that unlike most opioid antagonist medicine, it has no opioid agonist (promotion of opioid receptor activity) properties. Under the new law, it will allow first responders to administer the drug at the scene of a heroin overdose. Before this, only certain emergency medical technicians were allowed to administer the drug.
Although this is most definitely a step in the right direction, more can be done. For instance, Massachusetts, where opioid overdose is one of the leading causes of death, also has a naloxone administration program. However, this program is far more ambitious than Wisconsin’s legislation. In the Massachusetts program, naloxone in the form of nasal spray is available to opioid users themselves and those close to an opioid abuser. Those who want to receive the medicine must be trained through the Massachusetts Department of Health program that teaches trainees how to recognize an overdose, how to perform rescue breathing, and the importance of calling 911, along with the administration of nasal naloxone. Making naloxone this accessible has made overdose death rates decline sharply in the state due to its on demand availability.
Even though naloxone is revolutionary in its ability to stop and reverse opioid overdoses, it isn’t solving the entire problem. Patients who are given naloxone will feel painful withdrawal symptoms, which is the reason opioid users feel they need to use to avert these extremely painful experiences. Current methods at helping opioid abusers cease their addiction are somewhat counterproductive. Methadone, a drug promoted by the state government to block heroin withdrawal and the euphoric effects of opioids, is itself a highly addictive opioid. Some methadone patients have been on the drug for years because it has withdrawal symptoms similar to heroin, if not worse.
This is a call to action for those with the power to change the system. The first steps towards a culture where drug addiction is viewed as a public health issue and not social deviancy are welcomed, albeit many deaths too late. Naloxone is a revolutionary drug that has already saved many lives, and I applaud Walker for taking steps to make the drug more accessible. However, like in Massachusetts, the drug needs to be even more accessible than the current Wisconsin law to help prevent more deaths. Also, government, pharmaceutical and academic institutions need to conduct more research into alternative rehabilitation methods to methadone treatment, because in reality it’s the exchange of one addiction for another. These seven bills are hopefully the first drops of what will be a storm of drug law reform. However, it’s our responsibility to pressure our political representatives and local institutions into helping make these necessary changes a reality.
Nichalous Pogorelec ([email protected]) is a sophomore studying sociology.
