The life-saving antidote to opioid overdose
‘[It] is not a pleasant experience. It takes all the drugs out, so you go into instant withdrawal. I can remember coming round and feeling really ill – cold, shivering, aching. But without it I would have died.’
This is how former drug user Karl Price from Birmingham, UK, described being injected with naloxone. Price had overdosed on heroin in a public toilet and slipped into a semiconscious state. The opioid was flooding his system, causing his breathing to slow. Had his friend not administered the life-saving antidote, he would have suffocated. Price’s experience reflects that of thousands of other drug users that have been saved by naloxone from an otherwise fatal overdose.
Thanks for using Education in Chemistry. You can view one Education in Chemistry article per month as a visitor.
Registration is open to all teachers and technicians at secondary schools, colleges and teacher training institutions in the UK and Ireland.
Get all this, plus much more:
Already a Teach Chemistry member? Sign in now.
Not eligible for Teach Chemistry? Sign up for a personal account instead, or you can also access all our resources with Royal Society of Chemistry membership.