imyoda
DP Veteran
- Joined
- May 6, 2012
- Messages
- 5,731
- Reaction score
- 1,025
- Location
- Sarasota, Florida
- Gender
- Male
- Political Leaning
- Conservative
Governor Blocks Access To Lifesaving Drug For Heroin Addicts | ThinkProgress
Governor Blocks Access to Lifesaving Drug For Heroin Addicts
Maine Governor Paul LePage (R) vetoed a bill Wednesday that could save the lives of hundreds of people struggling with drug abuse in the state. The bill would have allowed pharmacists to dispense naloxone — the drug that once injected, reverses opioid overdoses — to anyone who may be at risk of overdosing, or someone close to them who could administer it in an emergency.
LePage said that making naloxone more accessible would only “perpetuate the cycle of addiction” in Maine, a state at the epicenter of the opioid crisis. Thirty-five states and Washington, D.C. have passed laws allowing prescription-free naloxone, which is known on pharmacy shelves as Narcan — and major pharmacy chains, like Walgreens and CVS, have openly welcomed the move. While Maine already allows people to access naloxone if they have a prescription, these new laws cut out unnecessary time and money spent obtaining a doctor’s note.
“Naloxone does not truly save lives; it merely extends them until the next overdose,” LePage wrote in his veto letter, according to the Portland Herald. “Creating a situation where an addict has a heroin needle in one hand and a shot of naloxone in the other produces a sense of normalcy and security around heroin use that serves only to perpetuate the cycle of addiction.”
Injecting someone with naloxone who is overdosing from heroin or another opioid can save their life. Members of the state legislature — along with many other critics — say LePage’s veto is a direct disregard to citizens’ lives…………..
This a person without any socially redeeming qualities……………Where did you folks in Maine find this guy?............in the woods?
Governor Blocks Access to Lifesaving Drug For Heroin Addicts
Maine Governor Paul LePage (R) vetoed a bill Wednesday that could save the lives of hundreds of people struggling with drug abuse in the state. The bill would have allowed pharmacists to dispense naloxone — the drug that once injected, reverses opioid overdoses — to anyone who may be at risk of overdosing, or someone close to them who could administer it in an emergency.
LePage said that making naloxone more accessible would only “perpetuate the cycle of addiction” in Maine, a state at the epicenter of the opioid crisis. Thirty-five states and Washington, D.C. have passed laws allowing prescription-free naloxone, which is known on pharmacy shelves as Narcan — and major pharmacy chains, like Walgreens and CVS, have openly welcomed the move. While Maine already allows people to access naloxone if they have a prescription, these new laws cut out unnecessary time and money spent obtaining a doctor’s note.
“Naloxone does not truly save lives; it merely extends them until the next overdose,” LePage wrote in his veto letter, according to the Portland Herald. “Creating a situation where an addict has a heroin needle in one hand and a shot of naloxone in the other produces a sense of normalcy and security around heroin use that serves only to perpetuate the cycle of addiction.”
Injecting someone with naloxone who is overdosing from heroin or another opioid can save their life. Members of the state legislature — along with many other critics — say LePage’s veto is a direct disregard to citizens’ lives…………..
This a person without any socially redeeming qualities……………Where did you folks in Maine find this guy?............in the woods?