WOODBINE – At the Woodbine Community Center, AARP Chapter 5292 sponsored free Narcan training Jan. 16 in tandem with distributing information about how to recognize and prevent overdoses.
Narcan is a prescription medicine that blocks the effects of opioids and reverses an overdose.
Joanna Dugan, a program coordinator at Urban Treatment Associates in Camden who is responsible for similar programs in the eight counties of South Jersey, led the training.
About 15 participants attended the session. They were spurred to learn more either because a family member, friend or neighbor has an opioid addiction problem or for a couple of attendees, they were supporting a church initiative to get involved with the community. Dugan noted she gives two to three sessions each week throughout the region and one about every two months in Cape May County.
“Addiction is a brain disease and those afflicted compulsively seek the drug that makes them feel, in their minds, less stressed, less anxious, in short, better,” explained Dugan.
“Not all heroin addicts are poor and urban; many times, people have been taking many different kinds of prescribed opioids that continue to build up in the person’s system.
“Opioids are called by many names, and each street corner where illegal drugs are sold has its own name for what is being sold with that name stamped right on the bag.
“However, many opioids are pain medications that doctors legally prescribe but that are being misused and/or abused,” continued Dugan.
Narcan, which is a brand name whose formal pharmaceutical nomenclature is “naloxone,” is a drug many have heard about given the exploding opioid addiction crisis throughout the nation and in Cape May County. Statistics show that overdoses take more lives per year than gun violence or car crashes.
In simplified terms, naloxone is an “opioid antagonist” which when an opioid enters the brain, attaches to neurotransmitters that give the user a “hit” or a “high” and removes the drug, binding to the receptors to block the opioid.
It was synthesized in 1961 by researcher Jack Fishman and was approved by the Food and Drug Administration in 1971 for use to counteract overdoses of illegal and prescription drugs.
Naloxone is so successful in reversing an opioid overdose that the World Health Organization has placed it on its “Essential Medicines” list.
It is quick-acting and short-acting, meaning it does its job quickly and only stays in a person’s system for roughly 30 to 90 minutes.
Dugan added, “Typically participants are in attendance to help a friend or a family member although we have expanded our program to staff members of schools, substance treatment facilities, and correctional facilities.
“At our training, one 4 mg dose is free. Narcan at pharmacies can be obtained for $150-$200 for two 4 mg doses. There is a ‘standing order’ at most pharmacies, that is no additional prescription is needed, so a person can purchase Narcan out of pocket or try to have it covered by their insurance for from zero dollars co-pay to about $50 depending on their insurance.
“My organization, Urban Treatment, is a non-profit methadone/suboxone clinic and our opioid overdose prevention program (i.e., Narcan program) is grant-funded through the State of New Jersey Department of Health.”
Dugan summed up by saying the most important thing one can do to help an overdose victim is to immediately call 911. She emphasized, stay with the person.
“New Jersey has a ‘Good Samaritan’ law which means that there will be no questions asked about whether the person helping the victim also has been using drugs. So remain with the person until professional help arrives.”
To contact Camille Sailer, email csailer@cmcherald.com.
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