Narcan has helped saved the lives of many in New Jersey, but its cost continues to rise, prompting a review by the state Attorney General.
If there was any lingering doubt about the role of Naloxone as a life-saving tool, a pair of near-tragic incidents blew it away forever.
Earlier this week, Hightstown police carrying drug-reversal kits containing the emergency medication revived two people, in two separate incidents, in one work shift.
Called to a home at 9:30 a.m. Sunday, Officers Kenneth Larsen and Daniel Abbatemarco discovered a 37-year-old man in cardiac arrest, with evidence of heroin use nearby.
They performed CPR and administered a dose of Narcan - the medication's brand name - before the man was taken to the hospital. Alive.
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Responding to another call not nine hours later, the same two cops and another, Officer Philip Esposito, found a 26-year-old man unresponsive and gasping for breath. Again, the officers sprang into action, giving the man oxygen and then Narcan before sending him to a local hospital, where he regained consciousness.
It could have been your son or your daughter starring in these real-life scenarios. Your next-door neighbor, your favorite teacher. In just one New Jersey county, Gloucester, police have administered Narcan successfully 95 times in one year.
And the outcomes could easily have been different.
"Narcan has saved thousands of lives in New Jersey - people who otherwise would have died of an overdose if someone hadn't been prepared and trained with the antidote," Gov. Chris Christie said in April.
He was speaking at a training session for friends and family members who might one day be called on to administer the antidote to loved ones who had overdosed.
Earlier this year, the Attorney General's office began looking into the soaring price of Narcan, both in the Garden State and nationwide, It's a wise move.
For its all miraculous lifesaving abilities, the antidote is useless if the people who need to administer it can't afford to keep it on hand.
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As of October 2014, every police patrol vehicle in Mercer County has carried Naloxone as part of a program overseen by the county prosecutor's office. Money from the state Attorney General's office funds the initiative.
No one chooses to be addicted to heroin, or to any opioid drug. No one wakes up one day and says, "I think I'll risk my marriage, my college education, my job - my life - for the momentary joy of one more hit."
That's why we call it addiction.
In New Jersey, victims and their families grapple with the one-two punch of a cheap supply of goods - as little as $2 on the streets for a small bag - and a lethally potent purity rate.
Acting Mercer County Prosecutor Angelo Onofri, who worked on equipping county police units with naloxone two years ago, says the heroin coming into our state is up to 62 percent pure, among the highest levels in the country.
In Hunterdon County, Prosecutor Anthony P. Kearns III and Chief of Detectives John J. Kuczynski helped launch the initiative START - Steps to Action Recovery and Treatment - a program aimed at giving drug users help if they find themselves back in the grip of addiction.
And the community there is getting involved by offering training on the use of Narcan. One session held in May was organized in honor of the memory of Briana Hoppel, who was 17 when she died in 2014.
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