Hacker News new | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submit login

> I always have Narcan on me when I go to parties or shows just in case.

Is the just in case there's any problems with drugs you take voluntarily? (no judgement, been there)

or to have it on hand in case someone else ODs?

or for the worst case scenario of someone drugging you (spiking a drink, etc).?




The intention is more so for my friends and anyone else around me, but all of that I guess.

I see people OD pretty frequently at music festivals, and while there is medical around, minutes matter when it comes to fentanyl overdoses, and it can take a while for someone to get out, notify medical, and get medical back into the middle of a 10 thousand person crowd.

I wish the US would follow Canada's lead and allow for drug testing tents to legally exist :/


Read up on a twitter thread where someone had an anecdote where one of their family members was ODing, the ER first responders didn't have narcan, and a homeless person came up, asked if the person was OD, administered narcan and disappeared before anyone could thank them.

So all of it.


I would guess it's in case there's fentanyl mixed with other substances, there have been instances of people doing cocaine, ketamine, and other substances, dying from opioid overdose. I volunteer with harm reduction services and many of us carry naloxone, and we advocate for drug testing with fentanyl testing kits, pill testing, and educating people on reagent testing. Unfortunately we can't actually sell or administer these tests at festivals.

Narcan/Naloxone won't help drink spiking, that's usually done with other substances as far as I'm aware.


Why can't you sell drug testing kits at festivals?


The RAVE act was passed in 2003 (introduced by Joe Biden funnily enough) and made venues / event organizers liable "for knowingly leasing, renting, using, or profiting from a space where illicit drugs are being stored, manufactured, distributed, or used." with up to a $250,000 fine or "2 times the gross receipts, either known or estimated, that were derived from each violation that is attributable to the person", whichever is greater.

So providing drug testing kits or providing a drug testing station in any official capacity would put the venue / festival officially on the hook for a potentially obscene amount of money because of that pesky darn "knowingly".

Given the current state of the opioid epidemic, I honestly can't understand how this draconian piece of legislation is still law. It is the exact opposite of harm reduction and literally kills people.


Yeah, the naive idea was that this would somehow make drug parties nonexistent. Seems to have worked just as well as the rest of the drug laws.


Did some digging - it was killed in 2002 but "Biden reincarnated the legislation (now called the Illicit Drug Anti-Proliferation Act) and inserted it into the Prosecutorial Remedies and Other Tools to End the Exploitation of Children Today (PROTECT) Act -- the home of feel-good laws like the measure creating a national Amber Alert system. President George W. Bush signed the PROTECT Act into law on April 30."

Nothing more classic than government overreach sneaking into legislation marketed as protecting kids.


If you're passed out from a fentanyl overdose, there's no way you can administer narcan on yourself, so carrying narcan is for saving someone else.


People dealing with you might find your personal supply of narcan and administer it to you. The protective effect of your narcan on you is significantly more than the zero you seem to be implying.


Yep. I keep it as accessible as possible and tell all my friends where it is ahead of time to prevent any slowdowns just in case.


Let's focus on the second one for plausible deniability, not the sort of data trail most people would want to follow them.

I'm sure the likelihood of opioid ODs happening at shows and festivals is very high in some places, wouldn't be too surprised if some shows have dozens. Very good-samaritan kind of thing to carry if you go to crowded places.


There is no more heroin on the street in the US, it is all fentanyl. There is starting to be fent in a lot of coke as well, and of course counterfeit oxy, it's really not good and I always recommend people test new supply


May I ask you if not doing drugs is an option for your people? If not, why not?


d) all the above




Join us for AI Startup School this June 16-17 in San Francisco!

Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: