A state program that provides to opiate addicts and their loved
ones a drug that can miraculously counteract a potentially
lethal overdose has been credited with saving at least 1,500 Bay
State lives. The five-year-old project, however, continues to
draw fire from some who believe that the life-saving narcotic
actually coddles drug abusers and makes them less likely to seek
out more effective substance abuse treatment services. Naloxone,
commonly known as Narcan, its brand name, counteracts the
effects of heroin, OxyContin, Percocet, Vicodin, codeine,
morphine, and other powerful opiate painkillers. Specifically,
it blocks the life-threatening opiates from depressing an
individual’s respiratory system. “Opioid” overdose is one of the
leading causes of death in Massachusetts. Its death rate,
officials said, is higher than that of motor vehicle fatalities.
According to public health authorities, two people die of opiate
overdoses in Massachusetts every day. Narcan has been used in
emergency rooms and by emergen