LIFELINE FOR ADDICTS

IN 2005, 544 people in Massachusetts died as a result of overdoses of
heroin and other opium-based drugs, more than twice the number killed
by guns. An antidote called Narcan can keep the drug from stopping
the user's breathing, but it has to be administered within minutes of
an overdose. That is why the state Department of Public Health plans
to distribute doses of Narcan to addicts and to train them in its
use. The program has been in effect in Boston for more than a year,
and should be expanded to four other regions of the state that DPH
has identified.

Overdoses are an increasing problem in part because high-grade heroin
has been available for about the price of a six-pack of beer. But
while Narcan has been in use in hospital emergency rooms for years,
it has not been made widely available directly to addicts. In Boston,
addicts participating in the city's needle exchange program are
trained to spray a prepackaged dose of Narcan, the brand name for
naloxone, into the nose of the overdose victim. Nasal membranes
absorb it even if the person has stopped breathing.

Narcan distribution has its critics. Many opponents worry that making
heroin use less dangerous will simply keep addicts from seeking
treatment. The White House Office of National Drug Control Policy
opposes it on the grounds that an overdose is such a serious medical
event it should be handled by medical professionals and not by an
injector's friends.

Proponents, however, see it as a form of harm reduction - a way to
keep drug users alive until they are ready to seek treatment. The
success of Narcan distribution in saving lives trumps the critics' arguments.

Baltimore began distributing Narcan in 2004. By the end of 2005,
participants in the program reported that they had successfully
treated 194 overdoses. Heroin-related deaths in the city dropped to
one-third below their 1999 peak. By last spring, Boston addicts had
reported 60 reversals of overdoses through Narcan. Chicago and New
York have also set up Narcan distribution programs.

Last year, despite the veto of then-Governor Romney, the state took
an important step to protect the health of drug users by legalizing
the sale of hypodermic needles without a doctor's prescription. With
access to clean needles, addicts are much less likely to become
infected with blood-borne diseases like HIV-AIDS and hepatitis C, or
to transmit these diseases to their sex partners and other injection
drug users.

Detox is still the preferred option for addicts, and both Narcan and
clean needle programs always offer drug treatment first. Yet it is
both humane and smart to show addicts how to stay alive until the day
when they are ready to beat their addiction, not just evade its most
deadly consequences.