The heroin epidemic continues to swirl around Ohio and other areas of the United States. In the city of Akron, at least two dozen people overdosed. Eight deaths are thought to be a direct result. Residents are hoping that the numbers won’t balloon to incredible levels like in July, where over 200 people overdosed. They’ve seen over 100 heroin-related deaths this year so far. It’s becoming more difficult to fight the epidemic due to a variety of reasons.
Hospitals and rehabilitation clinics are packed to the gills. They simply don’t have enough beds, staff, and medicine to treat everyone. Waiting lists and growing and it can take weeks for addicts to get help – and by then, it could be too late. The price of a common antidote for opioid overdoses, Naloxone, is now 40 times what it was 10 years ago. People with firefighter, police, and EMT positions have begun keeping the antidote on hand at all times. Overdoses aren’t limited to shady dimly lit backrooms. People are overdosing in cars, parks, and other public areas. And sometimes one dose of Naloxone isn’t enough. Addicts taking especially potent drugs could need as many as 6 doses to be revived.
Fentanyl and carfentanil have been a concern for some time now. It’s cheaper and more profitable than heroin. And despite how they’re more deadly than heroin, addicts are taking it in big numbers. Where there’s a will, there’s a way, and laboratory-made synthetic drugs are growing plague too. The War on Drugs is still rolling along despite widely being considered a failure. It’s the USA’s longest and most expensive war – one that hasn’t been able to control the latest spate of epidemics to break out. Cities in the Rust Belt, like Akron, are especially at risk. At they’re running out of options.