Naloxone (C9H21NO4)
Naloxone is a particularly interesting organic molecule, for one, due to the increasing rate of consumption and over-dosage of Heroin in North Carolina (Taylor.) Naloxone, widely and commercially known as Narcane, was developed in the 1960's and is molecule that acts as an opiate inhibitor. What this translates into is that when given at the right time and at the right dosage, Naloxone has the capacity to reverse a heroin overdose and counteract the hypotension and decreased respiration.(NCBI.) Increasingly, this medication is being used by emergency personnel and is even being recommended as a medication to have in the homes of chronic Heroin/opiate users. There has been particular success with these types of initiatives in North Carolina through the Wilkes County based Project Lazarus (Project Lazarus.) However, while many states and municipalities have had success with the usage of Naloxone, it is neither uniformly nor universally utilized to combat Heroin overdoses. And lastly, I leave with you all a clip of CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta showing the effects Naloxone has on someone going through a heroin overdose. Warning though, it is a little graphic: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qi7Y78FzNb0
Sources
1. Taylor, A. (2014, August 10). Dying for a Fix: Heroin is an increasing killer in the Triad. Retrieved August 26, 2014, from http://www.news-record.com/news/heroin-is-an-increasing-killer-in-the-triad/article_e2214f64-1f57-11e4-90d6-0017a43b2370.html
2. naloxone (- PubChem)
http://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/summary/summary.cgi?sid=113816&viewopt=PubChem
3. http://projectlazarus.org/about-project-lazarus
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