Words from the web
The FDA has approved naloxone, an overdose antidote for family members or caregivers of heroin addicts. An estimated 16,000 people die each year from drug overdoses, and the use of this antidote could cut those numbers substantially. However, there is some concern that it may provide a false sense of security for drug users. What do you think? How easily should this drug be made available?
“The whole idea of addiction is that you’ll do anything to get your high, including risking death. Making heroin slightly safer isn’t going to in any way change the mind of an addict.”
“No, they shouldn’t get it. The only thing they should get is to get off of everything.”
“Naloxone isn’t just for heroine overdose but can be used in a wide variety of other applications involving drug overdoses, including those prescription overdoses that occur because the body rejects an administered drug. The fact that an antidote gives an addicted individual a sense of security is absurd. Addicts have no sense of security.”
“All I’m saying is why should I pay for someone’s antidote that’s going to let them overdose again a day or two later?”
“You’ll have to pay for it one way or the other.”
“If that’s the case, then there’s no way they should get it. I don’t want my tax dollars being used for that kind of stuff.”
“I think we should poison the heroin so all users die instantly. And hang all dealers on courthouse steps. Let’s make our streets safer for the productive members of society.”
“There are some heartless people out there.”
“And then you get people who didn’t even read the full question. A drug company invented a new drug that the FDA approved, and there is no mention of it being part of a welfare plan or rehab facility, yet she goes ahead and lies to someone else about how we are paying for it with tax dollars.”