Heroin overdose has become a major concern for Ocean County, and officials are not taking the issue lightly. Last week, Joseph Coronato, Ocean County prosecutor, and Kenneth Lavelle, medical director of Emergency Training and Consulting, held a mandatory medical briefing for the county’s 33 municipality police chiefs on the use and administration of naloxone, a prescription drug sold under the brand name Narcan. The drug, which can temporarily reverse the potentially fatal effects of opiates, will soon be carried by police officers who serve within the county.
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| Photo via TheNutriFarm Police officers is Ocean County will soon carry Narcan to combat heroin overdoses. |
“I’m satisfied after hearing that,” said Chief Richard Buzby of the Little Egg Harbor Township Police Department. “It’s an excellent idea not only for my officers, who typically are on these scenes first, but for the families of these addicts, frankly, that would like to have a means at hand to give assistance to their loved ones. I think at this point they’re feeling helpless, and anything that we can do to put some ability to help back in their hands is certainly not a bad thing,” he added.
Anyone who lives with a heroin addict is permitted to have Narcan in his or her home, under a law recently enacted by Gov. Chris Christie. The drug is administered as a nasal inhalant to revive an unconscious victim before arrival at a hospital for further medical treatment. Narcan can be used to combat any type of opioid drug, including prescription narcotic painkillers, which have become increasingly popular with all age groups, especially the younger generations, said Barnegat Township Police Chief Arthur Drexler.
“It’s the new trend, and it’s just been snowballing. It’s something we haven’t seen in a long time. It’s almost plague-like. It’s killing a lot of people; it’s ruining a lot of people’s lives,” he added.
Last year, 53 individuals died in Ocean County as a consequence of overdoses. So far this year, 102 people in the county have been victims of fatal overdoses. According to Coronato, two other deaths in the county are anticipated to be ruled overdoses once toxicology reports are completed. Little Egg Harbor Township has had two confirmed fatal overdoses this year, and Barnegat Township has had four.
“Hopefully not, but the odds are that’s going to increase as well,” said Drexler.
While doctors continue to prescribe painkillers and more people become addicted to the habit-forming substances, the street prices for the pills continues to increase. When the prices become too expensive, addicts turn to heroin, which is much cheaper to purchase: $5 for a bag of heroin versus $20 per painkiller.
“With the drug problem you have more burglaries and thefts. They (addicts) have to support their habit, so we have to be diligent,” said Drexler.
There has been a tremendous increase in narcotics arrests this year, said Buzby, who attributed the crackdown to the hard work of his department and others within the county.
“I’d like to give kudos to the prosecutor’s office because the prosecutor is really attacking the drug problem from all angles – education, enforcement and prosecution – so I’m certainly going to support his initiative,” Drexler added.
Drexler expects the use of Narcan will help ease the overdose epidemic, but said it will take some time.
“It certainly should save some lives, and if it saves one, it could prevent a tragedy, and the person could maybe get some help,” he said.
Officer training for Narcan should begin around January and February. The drug costs about $25, and the training takes about 15 minutes to complete. Officers should begin using the heroin antidote starting in March.
“Even though it will be a small expense eventually to the agency, the initial issues are going to be borne by drug seizure money,” said Buzby. “I think it’s a good thing, and it’s a tool that my officers should have,” he added.
Various police departments in New York, Kentucky, Ohio and Massachusetts have been carrying Narcan in their police cars.
“It’s been tried and tested in other jurisdictions. I’m very pleased that, from what I’ve read about it, it tends to essentially do no harm,” said Buzby. “It poses the prospect of doing a great deal of good, so I don’t know why we would oppose that.”
Although there are no real dangerous or long-term side effects from the use of Narcan, Drexler said he is concerned for the safety of his officers, who may be injured by a combative victim who has been administered the drug. He is currently in the process of creating a policy to protect his team.
— Kelley Anne Essinger
This article was published in The SandPaper.
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