WHAT OPIOID CRISIS?

I have to wonder if we really have an opioid  crisis in Hartford. I am serious, if it  really is at crisis stage, wouldn't we be paying real attention to the problem and not just catch phrases at press conferences with talking points for the media?

For those unaware, here in Hartford we have dozens of opioid drug users overdosing every week  on our streets, in abandoned buildings and yes, even in fine homes. Those incidents often don't amount to much  more than a dispatch number on an EMS screen as Police , Fire and EMS are sent out to administer another dose of Narcan.

Sometimes the Narcan works, other times it is too late and the ME responds to recover the deceased body, only to await toxicology results to be added to  the list of the ever increasing number of statewide opioid deaths.

Not surprisingly, many of these victims are quickly forgotten and soon become a statistic in the Medical Examiners files.

Compare that to a Hollywood celebrity who overdoes and is found in time, and it suddenly becomes national news and well wishes and concerns and prayers flood in from around the world. Is Demi Lovato any more of a victim to the opioid crisis because of her celebrity, than say the guy left to die alone after injecting his "hot shot" in an abandoned building on Grand Street.

Life isn't fair I guess.

I probably shouldn't be surprised though. HIV treatment never really seemed to be a huge priority when it just affected Gay men. Once people realized it was quickly crossing over into "straight" society, things changed. Now HIV is very rarely a death sentence and drugs such as Truvada, also known as PREP ( pre-exposure prophylaxis) are readily available as another weapon in a health war.

Maybe Demi Lovato's opioid overdose is a good thing, and I say  that in all seriousness. Maybe the powers to be might realize that no one is safe, and it is not just that dead drug user found cold and lifeless with a needle in his arm in the abandoned building on Grand Street, but it could also be that loved one in your home that sleeps in the bedroom next to them.

More on this soon, and the struggle to find assistance when needed.