Documentary Review

The documentary, Virunga, is a great viewing experience to see the people of the Eastern Congo fighting for their land they call home.

This documentary follows a group of people in the Eastern Congo trying to keep the wildlife in Virunga National Park safe from the M23 rebels. Also investigated was SOCO International, trying to disrupt the park to obtain oil that was said to be in the area. In the film reporters go undercover to gather information on their illegal plans to take from the natural resources of Virunga National Park. They uncovered that SOCO was planning on working with M23 in order to make this happen. Also from a different perspective were the team of rangers who cared for the Gorillas and lived for keeping them safe. They risked their lives to stand against the rebels when they came to take over and they stood their ground to keep the park theirs. Virunga brings to life a lot of issues that go unknown in this part of the country. In the documentary it really brings out emotions seeing worry and sadness in the children and Gorillas when danger arrives and that'd what really gets the viewers attention. That, and all of the raw action war scenes of people in the town being shot and the rangers fighting for the station. I thought it was very informative and interesting to watch a real life perspective as these events occurred, but the best thing to see was how these people fought to keep people trying to do harm out of their territory.

Argumentative Essay

Brittany Krauss

February 10, 2015

English 102

Grant Schubert

Anti-Overdose, Or Increase in Overdose?

Naloxone, the anti-overdose drug, can save many lives, but it should not be more affordable for the use of individuals who are not medical professionals. There is nothing stopping a survivor suffering from an opioid addiction from continuing to use after overdose as long as Naloxone is available to them. Once they get possession of this so called miracle drug, there could be no stopping a user from a long life of drug addiction due to the lack of fear they will have of overdosing.

The idea of making Naloxone more affordable came about at a meeting held by The Clinton Foundation. They announced at the panel session by making the drug more affordable to the public it would save a lot of lives. Their goal is to save 10,000 in a span of 5 years, which doesn’t seem like a huge impact when almost 20,000 die of opioid overdose every year. Even with this plan the cost of one of these kits to someone who doesn’t have the right insurance could still cost upwards of $400.

Naloxone is a medication used to save people from opioid overdose. While it was approved for use against drug overdose by the Food and Drug Administration in 1971, it has more recently gotten the name of the “anti-overdose drug”. Typically this medication meant to save lives is only administered by medical professionals when users overdose from opioids such as Vicodin, OxyContin, Methadone and Heroin. There are two ways the user can be administered Naloxone; with the intranasal spray or with an auto-injectable called Evzio. Evzio is the newest way to administer Naloxone in a way similar to how an EpiPen works and also the least cost efficient option of the two.

Unfortunately, positive plans can have a few negative outcomes to consider. Naloxone is meant to be administered by professionals to someone who has overdosed and been called to the scene. While being able to have this medication on hand and more available would make response to an overdose much quicker, most commonly, drug addicts are going to try to get their hands on this overdose reversing drug. Making Naloxone more available and affordable could create a huge safety net for opioid users. Having this on hand to any user will make them have less of a fear they could overdose and die resulting in more frequent drug use and also larger doses at a time since they can be revived quickly. Thus causing them to believe they can get their high without any consequences. Patrolman Michael Brandolini, gave his opinion on addicts having access to Naloxone, "I think it's fine in the hands of first responders — police, fire and paramedics," Brandolini said. "Personally, I have reservations about giving it to the addicts themselves. I think it may give them a false sense of security.” He further went on to say that he worried addicts overdosing might try to administer the drug themselves if no one is around to help. They would most likely be unsuccessful because they would lose consciousness before it was inhaled or injected.

There is a dangerous side to making something like Naloxone more available to the public. Not only could it lead to an increase the use of opioids and heroine if users fall dependent to its life saving advantages, but it could also be administered incorrectly. Jamison Monroe Jr., CEO and founder of Newport Academy, does not feel Naloxone is ready for public distribution yet, “For right now, allowing the appropriate law enforcement and medical teams have naloxone at the ready is a way to reduce the number of deaths caused by a drug overdose and get addicts to receive proper treatment.” I agree with this statement because if Naloxone can be kept in the homes of addicts it could be administered incorrectly, or something could be wrong with the product due to the environment it’s being kept in. The average shelf life of Naloxone and the other products like it is 1-2 years if it’s being kept at room temperature or a little below. Also if the person administering the drug is say, a friend the person overdosing was using with then they could administer it incorrectly because they’re on drugs and panicking. A friend or family member who administers the drug to an could be held liable if anything were to go wrong.

Giving someone who has taken a turn for the worst in life a second chance is a great thing, but when that second chance is wasted then it’s very unpleasing. As of now, some addicts are going back to using days after a medical professional or trained officer administers Naloxone to them. If there is already a good chance of them still using when a limited amount of people possess this anti overdose drug, then why should we make it available to just anyone? Obviously most people are going to say “to save a life”, but saving a life so dependent on drugs over and over must get upsetting to the ones trying to help.

Matthew Siesto, Suffolk County police officer, spoke about an incident where he has rescued girls on a couple different occasions, “I saved that girl’s life less than 30 days later. 911 call at her house. I was a little upset that she’s still using.” At the beginning of the article, Siesto talked about a girl in a pickup truck who lost consciousness and had clearly overdosed on heroin. He said he administered the intranasal spray and revived her. It is such a disappointment to know some of these people getting multiple chances at life think so nonchalantly of it.

Side effects accompany Naloxone as they do most prescription medications. Heroin and opioid users brought back after they overdose experience withdrawal induced by the anti-overdose drug. The symptoms of withdrawal most commonly include anxiety, anger and violent behavior. Then there is precipitated withdrawal which seems even more unpleasant with more physical symptoms such as: vomiting, diarrhea, increase in blood pressure and pulse, seizure, stroke, pulmonary edema and even heart attack. The recovering addicts who experience it call it “the worst flu of one’s life.” Some people can’t handle or fear going through the process of withdrawal, so they turn back to using. Some of the addicts that live on the streets and need to have their high at all times, surprisingly, would rather die than be saved by Naloxone due to how terrible withdrawing would be for them.

One thing that some addicts underestimate is their tolerance if they choose to use again after being saved by overdose. After an addict is saved from Naloxone and uses again because they cannot make it through withdrawal, their tolerance is lowered making it easier for them to overdose the second time. Addicts who are saved from overdose and arrested once stable again have no choice but to go through withdrawal in jail. When they get released from jail what they don’t realize is they have regained high sensitivity to opioids and sadly many die of overdose within months after release.

J. David Goodman and Anemona Hartocollis, reporters for the New York Times, shed some light on the negative outcome of some users who have been saved, “Health and treatment officials caution that naloxone alone will not cure an epidemic of overdoses that claims thousands of lives each year. Users brought back from overdose often do not clamor for treatment.” The user not seeking treatment or recovery help is something else to take into consideration. Sure they can be saved from an overdose, but by not seeking treatment after the struggle through withdrawal is what puts them back to square one. If more users got the help they needed from detox and rehab clinics they wouldn’t fall victim to wanting to use again just to stop the withdrawal symptoms. Other people would probably be more inclined to help recovering addicts if they saw them really trying to recover from the addiction instead of treating an overdose like it isn’t a big deal. Not enough people see addicts taking that kind of a stance after overdose though, so they feel they would rather spend their tax dollars on a better cause if since it seems like a wasted effort to help people that won’t seek proper help.

There are always those people who ruin a good thing for other people. If addicts who overdose get proper administration of Naloxone, and get the help they need such as rehab, then this anti-overdose drug could substantially decrease the number of deaths from opioid overdose. While no one wants a loved one to die from overdose, they should want them to get the proper help they deserve to overcome their addiction for good. Until more users are guaranteed to stop using after an overdose, Naloxone should be left in the hands of medical professionals and trained police officers who have the right intentions and uses for it.

Community

In the episode of community about "meowmeowbeans", the message was how people in real life turn to social media for social acceptance. They started off thinking the app wasn't going to be as popular as it came to be, then everyone's lives revolved around it. In a way similar to how some people go to facebook posting a status or picture hoping to get a lot of likes to feel better about themselves. Only these people were looking for a higher ranking to be accepted into the 5 meowmeowbean club.

Author:Anna Almendrala
Title: Clinton Foundation To Help Make Anti-Overdose Drug More Affordable

The anti-overdose drug can save many lives, but the survivors suffering from an addiction will keep using and overdosing as long as Naloxone is available to them. The Clinton Foundation and Kaleo, the pharmaceutical company that invented Evizo, are in the process of making this anti-overdose drug more available to people overdosing on heroin, Vicodin, OxyContin, morphine and other opioids. 

Almendrala quoted Spencer Williamson, CEO of Kaleo, in an interview about making Naloxone more affordable, “In five years, the goal is to save 10,000 lives per year.” In prior years there have been over 16,000 deaths due to overdose.

While I believe saving people from death by overdose, this drug being more available could take a turn for the worse. For example making this more available to the elderly would be beneficial, because the drugs they are overdosing from aren't recreational. The elderly overdose from being unaware of the proper dosage of medication. Whereas people suffering from addiction might begin keeping Naloxone on hand so they can continue using drugs without the fear of dying instead of getting real help for their problems.