In my scouting den the guy I handed the reigns over to after my tenure was the lead nurse at a hospital in hagerstown Md when not being a navy corpsman. He said it was common to see the SAME person in the SAME day. narcan him/her up, send them home, get em back 6 hours later.Not to be disrespectful but just because you have not had anybody that you know effected does not mean there is not an issue.
My wife is a nurse and works in a chemical dependency floor of a hospital, this crisis is real and people are dying a lot of them.
Big Pharma has pushed opiods for years and for a person who can become an addict it is a prescription for hell.
I know there is an oath medical people take, but er docs and ems people are the ones leading the charge to NOT hand out consequence free narcan...
on a personal side, my wifes brother was an addict - heavier than opioids. many a time his father, armed with nothing more than a bible, went into hamsterville (outside baltimore) to get him when he was on a week bender. he got cleaned up, ditched enabler wife #1 and got with a nicer girl who was a 'biker chick', meaning she did modelling for biker mags, bud light stuff....but the stereotype is true and she brought alcohol and pot use back into the household and became enabler 2. dont let anyone lie to you, every addict will tell you, pot is absolutely a gateway drug and it didnt take long for the craving to start. rather than go back, he started up his john deere in the garage, closed the doors and laid down on some blankets...his dad found him 5 hours later. he left a note that he didnt want to put the family thru that again so enabler #2 and their kid have to go it alone...
and on my side, I know I am going to bury my 26 year old niece. she always liked a joint here and there (there goes that gateway again) but after a while its not enough and eventually, her gf/wife etc introduced her to the needle. she gets clean, but never more for a year and bumps even harder the next time. I hate to do it, but on the rare occasions she is clean and comes over, we have to round up and hide, any and all pill bottles. my sister cannot do a damn thing about it....the parents always seem to get to this point of resignation...
to a person who is not an addict or have the right personality - it is unfathomable. you just dont understand, I know I dont and I admit, and I am a staunch opponent of consequence free use/abuse/rescue