These adverts encouraging people to carry drug antidote?

[Tealandabney]

I had not heard of this antidote before. it is a good thing more people do know about it. And obviously if it helps save lives that is a good thing. I do wonder if it could give some people false security to go ahead and take drugs though. The cynical part of me hopes that the Scottish government is doing all it can to stop people actually taking drugs in the first place and not just using this as a tactic to reduce the deaths so their stats don’t look so bad.

It's magic stuff. The kind of person whose life might be saved is probably not at a point in their life where they are doing a thorough risk assessment before taking heroin. That's not how addiction works. From what I have heard heroin is largely on the way out in Scotland as the current generation have seen the impact on the previous. Again, from what I have heard, the people dying from heroin overdoses are older, long standing addicts. Naloxone only works on heroin overdose, as far as I understand.

I work in a pharmacy (up until recently) two of our daily methadone customers asked if our shop sold it which we didn't. Told them where they could get on & off they scuttled talking excitedly about the concoction of drugs they were gona take once they had the OD pen as they called it. One did end up in hospital. We also run a needle exchange. We had to record certain information about the users. We were told to fudge it as the government didn't want to know the real stats. From working in that pharmacy I can tell you that on the floor, the government don't care about it. They only care when it's vote collecting time & even then it's or show

@Namechangeforthis88 it sad to see but the youngest methadone user where I worked is 19, they'r 20 soon but I don't think they'll make it. This is not uncommon in the north east I was taught the war on drugs in primary late 80's early 90's and things are still no better. Aberdeen, Dundee, Glasgow all still riddled with drugs.

Sorry to hear that too. I've heard s lot about these issues through work but don't have your real world experience.

It is very worrying. I heard the advert and thought is the Scottish governments best offering to deal with the drug crisis. I don’t fully understand it though and hopefully you are right namechangeforthis88 that this is a small part and that heroin is in the way out soon anyway

I cant believe these adverts. Im sorry, but ive got enough to do without being a part time paramedic. Im appalled the sg thinks this is a good idea. Ive no clue how to save someone's life if they are overdosing and i dont want to get involved. I dont want to carry medication to help them. Ive never seen a person overdosing and i dont want to. Sorry if that makes me unsympathetic. Its just not a lifestyle i choose to mix with. The advert is very vague, is it aimed at everyone carrying medication about with them incase they see someone overdosing then they turn into a paramedic? I cant understand it. Of course its a reaction to us having the worst drugs problem in Europe but i think its a shit answer to that.

The antidote to heroin has a much shorter half life than the heroin itself.
This means that the antidote will wake someone up, often enough that they will jump up, shout and yell about you ruining their hit and run off. The the antidote wears off and the heroin is in their system and they collapse again.

In hospitals we sometimes give a small but continues dose of antidote via a drip while the heroin is in their system. This is enough to keep them breathing and reliable but not enough that they will run out and collapse somewhere on their own

It does sound a bit like they want everyone to turn into an overdose paramedic. But I assume they are only really aiming at people who know family and friends who take drugs ?

Well the adverts are everywhere and on telly so they are aimed at us all?

I completely agree with @ssd. I would not get involved if someone had overdosed. It's not something I ever come across in everyday life and I'm certainly not carrying medication "just in case".

I can see the argument for family members of known addicts having some in the house. But if you're walking through Glasgow at 3am and see someone slumped in a doorway... no.

People obviously feel much the same as me. It grates on me when I hear them, but I wasn’t sure if I was being unreasonable

Sticking plaster politics, just as someone on Question Time this week described the SG/SNP approach to dealing with things

Oh come on people are you all for real? This post just shows the absolute misunderstanding of drug/substance misuse, treatment programmes, national harm reduction policy and a long standing life saving medication.
Naloxone was first introduced in Scotland around 2007 with addiction teams/Police/ paramedics etc trained in the administration and supply of it. A roll out programme for service users their families/friends or anyone within the community who may be in the position to administer it in the unfortunate situation of someone overdosing has been around for well over a decade now.
It was introduced to
Reduce the high and unnecessary drug related deaths that Scotland has always experienced, nothing new there.
Drug deaths are closely monitored and are the result of many factors including availability/purity etc. Certainly nothing to do with SC and the COVID pandemic.
It is a single use prescription which is available to all after instruction on how to administer and easily available.
I’m actually really sad to read these responses in 2021 and realise that the worldwide substance misuse problem is so misunderstood.
I’m curious as to why it makes pp uncomfortable?
Also as a side note please also be aware of the money laundering businesses that drug dealers run via FB marketplace, tanning/ nail salons/ dog breeding.
The criminality of the drug gangs should be of national concussion not the administration of medication.

What makes me uncomfortable? The only time i see people off their heads n drugs is every day going to work walk-through central station. Theres regularly some poor bugger iff their head sitting on the pavement outside the station and along Gordon street. I dont know what they have taken or what stage they are in. I have no clue and i dont want to get involved. Its beyond me. Drugged up folk are usually surrounded by other drugged up people. Getting in amongst them isn't for me.
Being shocked at that is more surprising to me

It just makes me uncomfortable as I hope work is being done to reduce drug use and not just try to prevent deaths after drug use. I probably do need to understand it all better, I expect it is a very complicated world.

Yes i agree its very complicated and i think one solution for the public to carry about anti overdose medication just incase you come across someone overdosing in asda is just ridiculous and unacceptable.
People on drugs and people selling and deal need to be taken seriously, not this shite that we're being told now.

It works on other opioids too. Opioids are (at least partly) responsible for 89% for all drug deaths in Scotland according to this report

(Page 15)

www.nrscotland.gov.uk/filesstatistics/drug-related-deaths/20/drug-related-deaths-20-pub.pdf

[quote SheWoreYellow]It works on other opioids too. Opioids are (at least partly) responsible for 89% for all drug deaths in Scotland according to this report

(Page 15)

www.nrscotland.gov.uk/filesstatistics/drug-related-deaths/20/drug-related-deaths-20-pub.pdf[/quote]
Time to ban them, surely ?

Does anyone have a link to the advert please?

Naloxone has been been around a lot longer than since 2007
Anyway the ad I heard only mentioned its use in ‘drug’ overdose, the word heroin or its street equivalents wasn’t mentioned.
Surely they should mention that it’s useless for crack, benzos, ecstasy, whatever.
The previous post about the short half life of naloxone is also really pertinent.

I don't get it. If I see a stranger overdosing I'm not going near, I would phone 999 and let the professionals do their jobs.

I would however consider it if I had a family member who was an addict.

It is useful in some circumstances (in factories/labs where opiates are made there's always naloxone about, in case of accidental exposure), but I don't think that the general public carrying it around is a very good idea. The vast majority of it would just sit in bags and be wasted.

Yes - most drugs deaths are in middle aged people ( mid 30s plus). There is work going on to stop the younger generation from taking drugs and this is having an impact however there also needs to be steps taken to stop the middle aged, who ate likely to I've been addicted for decades, from overdosing. I must admit, I don't like hearing the advert and it makes me sad.

*are

have not I've

I am trained in, and have administered, Naloxone as part of my job. I also carry a cartridge in my bag and have one in the car, just in case.

We are trained never to administer if you have not called 999, and the 999 operator talks you through until the ambulance arrives. Sadly, if you say you have Naloxone, sometimes it takes longer for the ambulance to arrive, as the patient is receiving treatment.

The training provides an understanding of how it works, the best way to administer (in small doses 2 mins apart), to keep the patient from going into a deep withdrawal, which can be problematic for them.

One one shift, on the day the pubs opened for the first time in the the summer after lockdown, I Naloxone 3 people in the centre of Glasgow, while people just watched, and didn’t get involved. I understand that people are scared of repercussions from the patient, from being sued. But. I would not hesitate. There is never any thanks, they are mainly cross you took their ‘hit’ from them, but it does save lives. And I’m proud to be a part of that. The number of drugs deaths is an absolute disgrace in Scotland, and the SG are all talk and no action. Harm reduction is the way forward. That, and educating the general public and reducing trauma, poverty and all the other things that leads someone to use.

No-one starts their first day at school thinking, ‘I’m going to be a heroin addict when I grow up...’