Task Force: The Good Samaritan Law

The topic of Narcan is a relatively new concept, since it has only been easily obtainable in the past few years. The major debate on Narcan use is will it become a bigger issue the it fixes. Governor Tom Wolf in April made it public that all state police cars will have doses of the life-saving drug; Narcan (Murrysville). Supports, of this drug look at the fact that is has been credited with saving around one thousand people across the state (Murrysville). Furthermore, that there have been more than two thousand overdoses deaths, in Allegheny County since 2008; and that Narcan would have given those people a better chance to live. Equally important, is the negative-side of Narcan. Tom Wolf in February, made it public knowledge that free doses of Narcan, will be given to schools that want it. Those who believe Narcan will become detrimental to the fight against this epidemic have good reason to. Such as, comments from Dr. Neil Capretto who is the medical director at Gateway Rehabilitation Center; has talked before about his teenaged patients, that would use heroin or other opioids in the middle of school (Pennsylvania). If Narcan, is so accessible like in schools, police cars, and can be bought for personal use, this could allow people to push the limits on using these drugs. Also, by allowing it to used whenever is going to be like adding gasoline to a flame, it will speed the

There have been several news coverages on TV and social network about drug overdose of different cases recently and they have risen people’s concern about the problems of drug abuse national-wide. The drug abuse and opioid epidemic is not a new problem to the American society, actually it has been a serious problem for many years. So what is the situation of drug epidemic now, and how can we find effective ways to deal with this problem? A few writers who ponder this question are Nora D. Volkow, Dan Nolan and Chris Amico.

Various levels of governments in different communities across North America have initiated programs to deal with the opioid epidemic and its effect. Some of these initiatives will be examined in more details below.

The next step is dropping the death count. This could come in the form of the drug Narcan. Narcan is a drug that is to be administered (often in the form of a nasal spray) to a patient suffering from an opioid overdose. Infact according to Senator Kirk, “we are now seeing a 100 percent success rates from the lifesaving drug Narcan” (Kirk launches suburban anti-heroin task force 1 death every 3 days on average since 2012; using narcan during an overdose was 100% effective in Dupage County, States News Service). This drug has proven itself to be a saving grace to those who have abused heroin however according to Dr. Hamburg “FDA approval for intranasal naloxone [Narcan] may be another eight years away. Following current trends, an eight-year delay would result in another 1043 lives lost in Chicago's suburbs” (Kirk launches suburban anti-heroin task force 1 death every 3 days on

The content of this paper is an interview with Laura Crain from the McHenry County Substance Abuse Coalition. In the paper I touch on the history of the Coalition and how its evolved throughout the years. The coalition has a lot of involvement with the community in various counties. The work on a larger scheme rather than on a one to one basis. This interview covered the mission and goals set for the Coalition. Laura discussed with me the influences internal as well as external that affect the Coalition. Another thing we discussed was the struggles that come along with running an organization like this. I also touched on my personal experience and my thoughts regarding my internship.

The Southwest Metro Drug Task Force in cooperation with local law enforcement and with the support of local communities once again experienced another successful year. These participating agencies have made a commitment to their community in deterring drugs to decrease the exposure to their citizens.

When the info-graphics site Visually was hired to put together information related to drug abuse in the state, one could only imagine the startling information that was discovered. To begin with, drug is considered the #1 cause of accidental deaths with 11 people dying everyday from a drug overdose. Each year, an estimated 40,000 emergency room visits are drug related, and 3 of every 10 auto accident fatalities are as a result of drug use. Sadly, only 15% of the state's addicts are said to ever receive treatment. These numbers point out the need for educating residents about the availability of outpatient and inpatient addiction treatment services (drug and alcohol rehab) throughout the state and other parts of the country.

A huge epidemic that is obtaining a lot of attention from Congress and medical professionals across the county is the spiking heroin overdoses that are rising at alarming rates. (Krisberg, 2014). My question to everyone that is researching this topic is this:

In a fight to reduce overcrowding, improve public health and public safety, and reduce the costs of criminal justice and corrections, federal, state and local leaders are constantly looking for alternatives to incarceration. A number of strategies have been put in place to save public funds and improve public health by keeping low-risk, non-violent, possibly drug-involved offenders out of prison or jail while still holding them accountable and securing the safety of our comminutes. These programs have been put in place to help those who don’t necessarily need to be in jail, get their priorities straight while also holding them accountable for their actions. They have been put in place to help reduce incarceration rates, but also help those who may have mental health issues or substance abuse issues that have caused them to make bad decisions (Treatment Court Divisions).

Johnstown is in the middle of a horrible drug problem currently with heroine being the main cause of it. They are saying this drug is also causing a spike in crime level with it rising drastically with the level of heroin users in the area. Some suggestions to helping this problem are requesting a prohibition on housing vouchers, expansion of neighborhood watch programs, getting businesses and nonprofit organizations to offer financial support to the Johnstown Police

Although the task force does effectively address the problem of substance abuse and addictive disorders, it does not effectively address co-occurring disorders. Early on in the text, a co-occurring disorder is defined as an individual who has a substance abuse disorder and a mental disorder at the same time. The task force mainly focuses on substance abuse. There are elements that are present in the treatment such as release prevention, engagement, and persuasion. The task force provides a number of interventions strategies address problems with substance use.

In my interview with LPD Pltm. Erik P he said, “When I first became a police officer for the City of Lorain in 2009 I wasn’t hearing as many calls as I do now about heroin overdoses. When I first started I hardly ever had to go to a specific location to help out a citizen with an overdose problem. Now, just about every day that I work I get dispatched to “Assist with LifeCare with Overdose” call. Whenever I’m on shift I’m always hearing an overdose call. Sometimes dispatch comes over the radio saying that the 911 call came from their child. That’s really heartbreaking that those kids are experiencing their parent or parents overdose right in front of them. I can’t imagine what the child is thinking about when their parents are overdosing. Now

The new policy that was introduced in 2011 is the Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion (LEAD) program that allows police officers the opportunity to allow individuals who have committed small drug offenses or prostitution offenses to work with a case worker to create a unique service plan that will better their lives and reduce their criminal behavior. The three states, Washington, New Mexico, and New York, who have adopted this new drug policy are working together to introduce this change into other police departments. The case worker will provide many resources—food, living necessities, employment opportunities, and access to drug treatment programs, like a methadone program—to these individuals so that they have an opportunity to help improve

Since the early 1990s, Australian judicial system has experienced a great flux revolving around the notion of good faith in the performance the enforcement of contracts. The leading case Renard Construction (ME) Pty Ltd v Minister for Public Works (Renard) along with Preistly JA’s judgment commenced the controversial introduction of universal obligation of good faith in all contracts. Such introduction was also confronted by the opposing force of the more conservative judgments, such as those of Meagher JA in Renard and Gummow J in Service Station Association v Berg Bennett & Associates Pty Ltd . In order to correctly assess the extent to which the High Court of Australia should recognize that in all contracts, parties

In the community can easily find information from this problem by contacting local hospitals about patients that have had overdoses in the past. I can also contact school systems and ask about the common issue and who all is really affected by this. This can easily affect my client by being influenced by their peers. Listening to what the community is doing can alter the client’s behaviors and the way that they behave. The counselor has to know ahead of the time the type of community the client comes from and form alliances with the client.