Hi, My name is Cathy Dreifort and I am a former resident of Northfield Village. I currently live in Mesa AZ. I am active in the harm reduction addiction community, passing out Narcan (Naloxone), a life saving drug, to parents, friends and users in hopes of saving a life. Since arriving in Northfield for my visit, I heard a neighbor lost a son to heroin. Two of the sons overdosed and only one was saved. Nowhere do I see in that article that mentions these deaths that parents or users can obtain Narcan free of charge in both Summit County and Cuyahoga County. Why? This should be posted everywhere!!!
I read in the newspaper that by handing out Narcan it gives the user a false sense of safety and that there are even parties to overdose only so someone can be brought back to life. Perhaps there is some misunderstanding about addiction. Addicts don’t use opioids for fun; they use it to feel normal. The drug has taken over their brains so their number one survival thought is that they must have the dr Their brains tell them that if they do not get the drug they will die. Most of active users do NOT want to use but once addicted, many thanks to their doctors, they cannot stop with proper treatment. If Ohio is anything like Arizona, and I believe it is, there is insufficient availability of proper treatment for those who want it. In Arizona, we have a backlog of months for those waiting for treatment and many are dying waiting. Our jails treat addicts like criminals and only very recently we are trying to provide treatment in prisons.
But my point here is that I have seen nothing in newspaper stories that Narcan is free, free, free!!!! It can save lives. Addicts are human beings and worth saving. Project DAWN (Deaths Avoided with Naloxone)
Hopefully this information is made more available to the public. And it would be helpful to have more local distribution and training locations throughout the state. We have an epidemic on our hands and their is too little being done to stop it.
Thank you,
Cathy Dreifort
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