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DEFENSE DEPARTMENT TO BEGIN TRACKING DRUG OVERDOSES, PROVIDING ANTIDOTE DRUG
NALOXONE



Airmen from the 178th Wing participating in Project DAWN receive naloxone
(Narcan), a medication that can reverse an opioid overdose, on May 6, 2019, at
Springfield Air National Guard Base, Ohio. (U.S. Air Force photo by Janet A.
Aker)
Military.com | By Kelsey Baker
Published January 09, 2024 at 4:54pm ET

A new law will require the Pentagon to start compiling data in 2024 on overdoses
within the ranks, and to make available to troops an antidote for opioid
overdoses, as the U.S. continues to battle increasing casualties from the
fentanyl crisis.

Previously, overdoses within the military -- fatal and non-fatal -- weren't
systematically tracked. The Defense Department will now have to maintain
information such as what substances were involved in an overdose, whether
doctor-prescribed drugs were also involved in an overdose, and how many
overdoses are deemed intentional or accidental, following the passage of the
annual defense policy bill last month.




Pressure began to build in Congress to take action to combat the rising number
of overdose deaths in the military following a 2022 Rolling Stone report that
exposed a string of overdose deaths at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, now renamed
Fort Liberty, prompting Sen. Edward Markey (D-Mass.) and other lawmakers to push
the Pentagon for information.

Read Next: Defense Secretary Austin Diagnosed with Prostate Cancer that Led to
Further Hospitalization for Infection

As a result of that request, the Pentagon determined that the number of military
deaths involving fentanyl doubled between 2017 and 2021, mirroring escalating
fatalities nationally as the drug has flooded the country.

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Fentanyl is 50 times stronger than heroin and 100 times stronger than morphine.
The synthetic opioid has been available since the 1960s, mostly for extreme pain
in cancer patients. Now, it's the leading cause of death for Americans between
the ages of 18 and 49.

More than 330 service members died of drug overdoses in the five years before
2022. Ten percent of those deaths occurred on Fort Liberty alone, while 15,000
troops suffered non-fatal overdoses, the majority of which were accidental.

"Real security means guaranteeing that members of the military and their
families can get resources and life-saving treatment necessary to stop the
overdose crisis in its tracks," Markey said of the new law, in a statement
emailed to Military.com last fall.

The new drug requirements, wrapped up in the annual defense bill that was signed
by President Joe Biden on Dec. 22, represents the most significant recent effort
to combat overdoses within the ranks, and come at a time when Illegal drugs,
primarily fentanyl, are projected to be a top national security threat in 2024.

The new annual report will also include information on overdose locations,
demographics, whether the service member had previously sought mental health
treatment, or if they'd previously been prescribed opioids, benzodiazepines or
stimulants.

The surge in deaths is in large part because drug manufacturers began mixing
fentanyl with other drugs to increase the intensity of a user's high. Because of
fentanyl's extreme strength, it's often a lethal combination. Gold Star mother
Carole De Nola prefers the term "poisoning" to accidental overdoses involving
fentanyl given that users often don't know what's in the drugs they're using.

De Nola's only child, 23-year-old Ari McGuire, died of an accidental fentanyl
poisoning while stationed at Fort Liberty in 2019.

"We should be dealing with this before a service member's about to overdose,"
she said, adding that the new law doesn't include any requirements on fentanyl
awareness.

Many fentanyl victims are looking for recreational drugs, as opposed to regular
drug abusers, and are unaware of fentanyl's proliferation.

Without education, "we're going to continue to get a passive response," De Nola
said. "The Army will remain reactive, rather than proactive."

About seven in 10 fake prescription pills, including counterfeit Adderall and
Xanax, contain a potentially lethal dose of fentanyl, according to the U.S. Drug
Enforcement Agency.

Some research points to the possible effects the opioid crisis may be having on
dismal military recruiting efforts too, noting that the issue is particularly
devastating to young men of military age and to states that have long been
reliable military recruiting grounds.

The new drug requirements come as the U.S. enters what experts are calling the
"fourth wave" of the opioid crisis, first beginning in the late 1990s when
drugmaker Purdue Pharma began manufacturing synthetic opioid painkillers and
falsely labeling the drugs as non-addictive.

After the government tightened regulations on opioid accessibility, opioid users
began turning to heroin during the second wave around 2010, stifled by the newly
restricted access to prescription pain meds. The third wave followed a few years
later, with the arrival of fentanyl on American streets.

Now, the fourth wave sweeping the nation is characterized by illegal drug makers
combining fentanyl with other drugs, such as cocaine or counterfeit Xanax.

On top of the new tracking requirements, the military must come up with a plan
by 2025 to ensure Naloxone, a lifesaving drug that can reverse an overdose, be
made available to all troops. While she's glad to see Naloxone be made
available, De Nola says the long timeline will be too late for military overdose
victims.

The nasal spray version of Naloxone, known as Narcan, is relatively easy to
administer, and some U.S. cities have started placing it in publicly accessible
vending machines, in hopes of saving more lives.

"It's really just smart public health," said Professor Alex Bennett of the new
legislation. Bennett serves as the director of New York University's Opioid
Overdose Prevention Program, and his work often focuses on military veterans.
The changes are overdue, he added, and can help prevent overdoses amongst
veterans down the line.

"There's really a lot of drug naivete amongst military personnel," Bennett said,
stressing that many veterans he's met don't understand the risks of mixing
drugs, especially with alcohol, which can decrease a person's heart rate to the
point of overdose.

Improving data collection in the DoD now can mean better drug intervention
efforts for veterans, after they exit the service, Bennett added.

"We've been working with a lot of veterans who use substances while they're in
the military," he said. "Transparency with data tracking like the kind the
military is set to begin doing is a step in the right direction."

It's not yet clear how the DoD will make Naloxone available. Another harm
reduction tool, fentanyl test strips, which check drugs for traces of fentanyl,
is not included in the new law. Additionally, the Naloxone that's distributed to
troops is set to require a tracking system, which may deter some troops from
seeking it out.

Substance abuse experts say that tracking data on military overdose victims
could help the DoD prevent more deaths by identifying trends and patterns, so
top brass could better allocate attention and resources.

"Closing your eyes to drug problems doesn't solve anything," Bennett said. "It
just makes things worse."

-- Kelsey Baker is a graduate student at Northwestern's Medill School of
Journalism and a former active-duty Marine.

Related: 'You Can't Fix the Problem If You're in Denial:' The Military's Surge
of Fentanyl Overdoses

Story Continues
Related Topics: Military Headlines Department of Defense - DoD Drugs Personal
Care and Health

© Copyright 2024 Military.com. All rights reserved. This article may not be
republished, rebroadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without written
permission. To reprint or license this article or any content from Military.com,
please submit your request here.
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