HEROIN DAMAGES THE BRAIN
A heroin overdose produces permanent brain damage that has tragic consequences for heroin users.
Below is a summary of The Age newspaper article on 2 April 2001.
- Narcan (heroin recovery) did not prevent the brain damage.
- The heroin caused permanent serious debilitating brain damage.
- Brain damage from a heroin overdose come about because of a rapid rise in blood pressure, sometimes causing the veins in the base of the brain to explode which deprive the brain of oxygen.
- The overdose brain damage left the survivor with spasticity, serious speech impairment, pain, watering eyes and bound in a wheel chair.
- Just one small occupational therapy practice sees two new overdose survivors with brain damage each month.
- Some brain damaged heroin overdose survivors require two years of intensive rehabilitation to learn to blink their eyes to communicate.
- The overdose survivor in the article can only speak one word.
- There is no state government funding for brain damage survivors for disability support for home modifications.
- The funded attended care for survivors for dressing, feeding, showering, etc., was cut from 70 hours a week to 30 hours a week.
- There is a massive burden on an overdose survivor's family.
- Most heroin overdose brain damaged survivors are males between 20 and 43 with most living in nursing homes.
This information proves that injecting rooms, heroin trials, overdose recovery and prescription heroin are all dangerous policies.
THE DRUG ADVISORY COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA SUPPORTS-
More detoxification & rehabilitation that gets illicit drug users drug free.
Court ordered and supervised detoxification & rehabilitation.
Less illicit drug users, drug pushers and drug related crimes.
DACA - HEROIN FACT SHEET 2
