To Stop an Overdose: Heroin, Narcan and the New Public Policies That Are Saving Lives

Mike Ludwig @ Truthout - I'm lying on the floor in my friend's kitchen. A dozen people are gathered around me. Maria grinds her knuckles across my sternum, but the sensation on the sensitive pressure point does not cause me to react. She rolls me on my side, turns my face to the side and brings one of my knees up toward my chest. Putting me in this "recovery position" will prevent me from choking if I vomit.

Maria pulls out a thick-gauged intramuscular syringe and a vial of naloxone hydrochloride, a drug known commonly by the brand name Narcan. She shows the people gathered around me how to draw up 1 cubic centimeter of naloxone into the syringe. "You want to inject it into fleshy areas, the upper arm muscle, thigh or butt," she says. "If there is not response in a few minutes, try administering one more cc of naloxone. Paramedics will give up to 3 cc's."  Read more.