‘Narcan Parties:’ The Latest Craze of the Drug Epidemic
Fake news abounds all across social media and other news outlets that report the daily happenings around the country. The U.S. is almost obsessed with the idea of fake news and reputable broadcasters are often accused of spreading lies. In regard to the opiate epidemic, declaring something as fake news that might be real, or believing fake news that is, in fact, fake is extremely dangerous. Remember, we’re dealing with people’s lives here. We already have enough problems with the current drug epidemic. Actually, we already have way too many problems with it and the last thing we need are fake stories that shock and awe the people who are reading or listening to them. The current epidemic needs solutions, not more problems and fake news stories about the drug crisis just cause professionals, experts, and others to come up with wrong solutions to fake problems. And where does that get us? Nowhere, that’s where.
Recent stories have come out that suggest the existence of a “Narcan party.” A “Narcan party” is supposedly where people who use opiates, like pills and heroin, get together and have a drug party where they die intentionally, knowing they’ll be brought back to life because other partygoers have Narcan on them and can revive them. It’s laugh-out-loud ridiculous that anyone in their right mind would believe a story like this.
Click here to read one of these fake stories.
What realistically happens is that emergency responders are called to the scene of an overdose where a bunch of people were having a party and using drugs. Someone at the party happened to have Narcan and administered it to the person who overdosed. Not fully understanding what’s going on, first responder EMT’s and paramedics seeing that someone nearby had the opiate reversal drug, may think or say “they must have been having some weird Narcan party”, thus birthing the fake news.
The other part of the idea of a “Narcan party” I don’t get is why any opiate user would want to go to a party, intentionally overdose, only to have Narcan given to them. Anyone who knows anything about opiates and Narcan knows that since Narcan is an opiate blocker, it throws an addict into immediate, gut-wrenching withdrawals. Giving someone who’s overdosing Narcan is often a thankless gesture. I’ve administered Narcan to guy who fell out at a bus stop only to have him wake up, punch me in the chest, and say “thanks, now I’m sick!” He promptly took off to get high to make the withdrawals go away.
We all have to be careful about what we accept to be the truth. Integrity can be defined as “maintaining the truth and the truth is what is true for you.” We have to be a little smarter and bit brighter and not just agree with all the information we’re given. Use common sense, and by doing so, you will weed out all the lies and propaganda.
Sources Used:
https://www.thefix.com/narcan-party-hysteria-puts-value-drug-users-lives
