# 105

Washington Post reports that 2015 data indicates that alcohol is involved in less than half of deaths in vehicular accidents and that other substances combined, exceed alcohol.

The below article relates to deaths in Motor Vehicle Accidents for 2015.  In addition to marking a major shift - in that alcohol was not found as a factor for more than half of such deaths - the article indicates that Marijuana/THC was found in 33% of such deaths and that, in Colorado where THC is lawful, the percentage approaches 50%.

http://www.al.com/news/index.ssf/2017/04/drugs_now_more_likely_to_cause.html

# 104

New Hampshire law treats OD scenes as crime scenes and targets dealers.  (In an earlier post, Virginia has passed a similar bill, providing enhanced/mandatory penalties, yet it has stalled for 2 years in the finance committee because additional jail time - even when deaths are involved - will need to be funded.)

Strangely, the below positive collaboration between enforcement, prosecution and legislators does have a critic.  Yes, there are people who advocate against any effort to track down, arrest and jail the dealers who played a part in a Criminal enterprise which resulted in death! (see the last paragraph, below.)

Below are three quotes from the article:

Intent on finding Dakota's supplier, police followed the clues to neighboring New Hampshire where two men were charged under a statute that aims to hold those who sell drugs with a 'death resulting' responsible for the loss of life.

"The syringe has become the murder weapon," DeLena said.

"It's going to end up saving absolutely no lives and result in millions or tens of millions of dollars being spent locking up drug dealers who will simply be replaced by other dealers," argues Ethan Nadelmann of the Drug Policy Alliance, a New York based non-profit focused on reform efforts.

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2017/04/24/nh-treats-overdoses-as-crime-scenes-targets-drug-dealers.html

# 103

Here's the map for North America

The title for the map is: Celebrating Lost Loved Ones to the Opioid Epidemic.  One mother of a 17 year-old victim indicated that the map and format helps to keep the memory of her son alive.

[He worked with Padaric to promote the map in Canada. Both think it has a noble purpose: banishing the shame associated with addiction and humanizing people who use drugs.

Padaric admits it also helps to assuage her own grief over Austin's death.

"It's a way of maintaining that memory. I don't want him forgotten."]

https://stoprxabuse.maps.arcgis.com/apps/StoryMapCrowdsource/index.html?appid=19f5247b5bd043dda9a25b22c0919760

# 102

Family members of overdose victims create "Overdose Maps" for Canada and the US which identify the location and connect a photograph of each victim.

Wonderful effort memorializes victims of fatal substances while including the below comment "Stop labelling addicts "bad people making bad choices," says B.C. Doctor."

To date, this post has never presented a post which addresses the character of any victim while it has strongly emphasized the consequences of choices made by adults who self-administer fatal substances.

[Lindemann thinks the map, which is hosted by Esri — the data visualization company Lindemann works for — personalizes the crisis, bringing a North America-wide problem to the doorstep of whoever sees it.
"People are inclined to pay attention if it's closer to where they live," he said.

• Stop labelling addicts 'bad people making bad choices,' says B.C. doctor
• Drug overdose prevention program aimed at empowering high school students

He worked with Padaric to promote the map in Canada. Both think it has a noble purpose: banishing the shame associated with addiction and humanizing people who use drugs.]


http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/opioid-deaths-map-1.4067384

# 101

Not finalized 2016 Virginia deaths due to Heroin and opioids (Fentanyl) broken out by map/by County.  Data presented.

Virginians should read and weep.


http://wtop.com/virginia/2017/04/fentanyl-heroin-drive-virginias-rise-in-fatal-drug-overdoses/

# 100

Livescience attempts to explain: Here's What Happens During a Fentanyl Overdose, in below hyperlink.

Previous posts on this blog have explained how Central Nervous System depressants do not produce "highs."  The descent these substances produce can be illustrated in the following way:

Glide (like an escalator going down):

Administration

         Respiration and heartrate slow, pupils constrict

                   Sleep

                             Coma

                                        Death if volume is sufficient, respiration control center ceases breathing

Elevator Shaft ( like an elevator descent with broken cables) :

Administration

Respiration and heartrate slow, pupils constrict

 Sleep

  Coma

  Death if volume is sufficient, respiration control center ceases breathing

The scientific and pharmacological stages illustrated in the "Glide" example occur most frequently in lower potency Heroin and some of those stages are not reached due to small doses or Narcan revival.

The stages illustrated by the "Elevator shaft" example come when opioids like Fentanyl and Carfentanil are administered because Fentanyl is 40 to 100 times more potent than Heroin and because Canfentanil is 100 times more potent than Fentanyl.  As the article indicates, revival from the more potent opioids requires more Narcan attempts and, sadly, they are not always successful.

http://www.livescience.com/58682-fentanyl-overdose-characteristics.html

# 99

25 year-old man in Providence, RI convicted of 2nd degree murder from February 2014 fentanyl overdose death in Distribution case in which he sold to 29 year-old woman who was two days out of Texas Rehab.

In addition to illustrating the sloth-like pace some courts have for delivering Justice (3 years, 2 months), this case describes how the "victim" and "defendant" were both raised by single mothers.  Additionally, the article describes how the defendant's 23 year-old brother was recently convicted in a gang-related murder from 2014.

Increasingly, the media has been emphasizing aspects of life which have nothing to do with the elements of specific crime.  Possession and sale/distribution are felonies no matter what socio-economic strata one comes from.  Purchase and possession of controlled substances is a violation of law whether the possessor is sick or not.

Adult choices continue to reflect a risk continuum which includes arrest and death.  Our society needs to re-examine the distribution of resources in order that youth and persons who are not addicted to any substance receive their fair share in leading them away from making fatal decisions.

http://www.providencejournal.com/news/20170412/dealer-convicted-of-murder-in-cranston-womans-fentanyl-overdose

# 98

Charges for homicide come 14 months after overdose death in Pennsylvania.  Law enforcement developed dealer/distributer after addicted mother found dead, frozen and wrapped in a sheet along roadside in February 2016.  Originally thought to be a heroin OD, authorities determined that cause of death was from fentanyl.

In the below article, Prosecutor reveals how police developed a network of participants in the drug distribution enterprise which took the life of an addicted mother.  The report indicates that the decedent stated that she was seeking rehab, however, she postponed that effort in pursuit of heroin.  When her body was discovered, multiple packets of fentanyl were also found in a cavity she created in her bra.


http://www.statecollege.com/news/local-news/two-charged-in-penas-overdose-death,1471897/

# 97

Article in Washington Post, on Heroin, announces phenomenon whereby Heroin users flow towards distributors whose products are killing users.  Article fails to mention near identical article, in the Washington Post, dated June 10, 1990.

Washington Post writer, Courtland Milloy, posted the hyperlinked article on April 4, 2017 without referencing the below June 1990 and earlier articles from the same newspaper.  Milloy is actually reporting on an "old" phenomenon which confirms a cycle of death which is repeated despite government's efforts emphasizing treatment (see Post archives for Treatment responses).

During the 1980s, when drug users learned that "hot shots" were killing users in DC (some found in their suburb-tagged cars, dead, with needles still in their arms), suburban users would pour into the district seeking the same lethal doses.

Milloy is really reporting nothing new and he is silent on the topic of diverting resources to young persons who have not yet become addicted to any substance.

Heroin Overdose Deaths Rise As Drug's Purity Triples Here

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June 10, 1990 | Nancy Lewis | Copyright

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  <a href="https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-1131487.html" title="Heroin Overdose Deaths Rise As Drug's Purity Triples Here | HighBeam Research">Heroin Overdose Deaths Rise As Drug's Purity Triples Here</a>

The level of purity of heroin available for sale on the streets in Washington has more than tripled in two years, resulting in a surge in drug overdose deaths in the last 12 months.
Medical authorities say the new potency and its unpredictability threaten longtime heroin addicts as well as new heroin users who are attracted to the narcotic as a way of easing the crash from crack.
Although complete statistics are not available, the D.C. medical examiner's records show that at least 100 people died last year with lethal amounts of both cocaine and heroin in their bodies-

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/when-heroin-kills-the-appeal-grows--and-policing-the-drug-becomes-harder/2017/04/04/92ee4dce-194c-11e7-855e-4824bbb5d748_story.html?hpid=hp_local-news_milloy-7pm%3Ahomepage%2Fstory&utm_term=.1e74ae012efa