For this special episode of Addictions Edited, Rob visits a London treatment service to talk to Martin McCusker from Lambeth Service User Council, Dr Martin Sefranek a substance misuse worker and researcher and Dr Rebecca McDonald, an addictions researcher specialising in improving access to medications who joins them on Zoom from Oslo.
The podcast covers several key issues about naloxone, including how it works, how to administer it, the law, and the latest research. They talk about the role of naloxone in reducing drug-related deaths in the UK and the implications for drug policy.
They also discuss how to encourage people who use drugs to carry naloxone and the reasons why some people might not. Martin McCusker and Martin Sefranek talk about their experiences training people to use naloxone – in particular their work with family and parents.
“You always call the ambulance, but then …. you are counting the minutes or seconds yeah, but if you have naloxone you can do something more. And I think for these parents it was important to know that this is something they can do.” – Dr Martin Sefranek
“We’ve had really positive interactions between people and police …where they’ve been stopped and searched and it’s been a tense situation but then the naloxone is found and the whole vibe of the search changes.” – Martin McCusker
“There is the estimate that two-thirds of overdoses could be prevented, but this very much relies on people not using on their own.” – Dr Rebecca McDonald
by Rob Calder
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