Letter: Educate public about drug addictions
A kit with naloxone, also known by its brand name Narcan, is displayed at the South Jersey AIDS Alliance in Atlantic City, N.J. on Feb. 19, 2014. Credit: AP / Mel Evans
“LI’s heroin crisis goes on” [News, Feb. 18] reports that there were 58 fatal overdoses in Nassau and Suffolk counties in 2015. Last year, Nassau and Suffolk police administered Narcan, an opiate antidote that can reverse the effects of an overdose, 959 times.
Along with heroin, fatal overdoses of prescription pain medications like oxycodone and hydrocodone have risen dramatically. Some in the article call for more money for addiction treatment. However, medication safety must start before the prescription is written, and this is what needs to be addressed. Money needs to be available for education, programs and policies before medication is distributed.
Ilene Corina, Wantagh
Editor’s note: The writer is the president of the nonprofit patient-safety group Pulse of New York
