Lighthouse News Daily

Breaking Daily News

Friday, March 5, 2021
Log in
  • Headlines
  • Business
  • Education
  • Entertainment
  • Sports
  • Technology
  • U.S.
  • World
  • Latest News
    • Inflatable Greenhouse Could Be A Food Source In The Outer Space
    • YouTube for Children Being Launched by Google
    • Some Animals Produce Natural Sunscreen to Protect Themselves from Radiation, New Study Shows
    • A New Genetic Map Tracks Down Dog Breeds And Their Evolution
    • Lack Of Sleep Causes Brain Cells To Slow Down
    • Meet Lyuba, the Best-Preserved Baby Mammoth in the World
    • Reports of Great White Shark Spottings Around Wells, Maine
    • Minecraft Adds Hour of Code Designer Tutorial
    • The de Broglie-Bohm Theory Is Back and It’s Surreal
    • Could High Carbon Dioxide Concentration Make Earth Greener?
You are here: Home / Health / Weymouth Firefighter Claims Drug Addicts Shouldn’t Be Saved

Weymouth Firefighter Claims Drug Addicts Shouldn’t Be Saved

February 2, 2016 By Barbara Mast Leave a Comment

Email, RSS Follow

Weymouth firefighterA Weymouth firefighter has claimed drug addicts shouldn’t be saved after suffering an overdose, sparking a social media storm following his controversial statements.

Mark A. Carron infuriated thousands of people and most likely committed career suicide, after complaining on Facebook about the fact that drug addicts get to be revived using Narcan (naloxone), after overdosing on opioids such as heroin, codeine, Vicodin, oxycodone, morphine and methadone.

In his deeply offensive post, Carron described Narcan as the “worst drug ever”, because it gives those who abuse drugs a second shot at life, instead of just letting them pay for their mistakes and die.

The firefighter also lamented the fact that he’s never been paid extra for saving the lives of such addicts, and argued that many people who suffer overdoses resume their drug habit just hours afterwards.

Despite the fact that Carron quickly deleted his status update, overwhelmed by a wave of negative reactions, by then a screenshot of the inflammatory message had already been taken, and soon turned viral, being distributed by hundreds of outraged Facebook users.

Eventually the post was also brought to the attention of the Weymouth Fire Department. Officials decided that Carron should be placed on unpaid suspension for the following 90 days, and afterwards be demoted to a desk job.

In addition, Robert L. Hedlund, the Mayor of Weymouth, Massachusetts also announced that the firefighter would have to take part in group therapy in order to become more sensitive and accepting towards others.

Moreover, Carron would have to receive social media guidance, so as to learn how to exert his freedom of speech, without being offensive or putting his entire department in a bad light.

The punishment was seen as overly lax by some, who have said that the Weymouth firefighter should’ve been fired for his hateful assertions; others on the other hand have argued that Carron should be granted a second chance, similarly to the way Narcan also gives drug addicts a new lease on life.

Meanwhile, Keith Stark, fire chief at the Weymouth Fire Department emphasized that Carron’s callous remarks are under no circumstances representative of the mindset that the rest of his colleagues have, and are simply the expression of just one person’s misdirected anger and frustration.

While some emergency workers agreed that at times drug addicts quickly return to the opioids that nearly led to their demise, they declared that it would be completely heartless to deny persons on the brink of death the treatment that could save their life, no matter how often it has already been administered to them before.

By and large, among all his fellow firefighters, Carron’s statements were deemed deeply insensitive, especially to those who have lost loved ones following a drug overdose.

That opinion was also shared by representatives of various nonprofit groups and charities assisting drug addicts and their families.

For instance, Joanne Peterson, executive director of the Learn to Cope organisation, has declared that it’s very likely that Carron never had a family member or a friend suffer a deadly overdose, because otherwise he would surely be much less cynical and much more empathetic about the terrible plight represented by drug addiction.

Across the state of Massachusetts, throughout the year 2014, over 1,000 people have passed away after abusing heroin, Oxycontin and other opioids, and authorities believe mortality rates have been even more elevated in 2017.

In Weymouth only, between 2013 and 2014, 185 opioid addicts suffered overdoses, of which 24 were fatal, as revealed by the Massachusetts’ Department of Public Health.

It’s therefore obvious that the number of deaths could’ve been much higher in the absence of Narcan, which is often administered during drug emergencies, acting like a true lifeline by reversing the effects of powerful opioids.

Image Source: Statter911

Email, RSS Follow

Filed Under: Health

Pages

  • About/Contact
  • AccomplishNow Sandra Rechsteiner | A Journey to Self-Acceptance
  • Privacy Policy GDPR
  • Staff
  • Terms and Conditions

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 17 other subscribers

Tablet Shipments Worldwide Drop for First Time

February 3, 2015 By David Kellen Leave a Comment

Pew: Immigrants to Make Up 88% of U.S. Population Growth by 2065

September 28, 2015 By Adam Lynch Leave a Comment

Google to Test Modular Smartphone in Puerto Rico

January 15, 2015 By Jeremy Kennedy Leave a Comment

Profit Plummets at AIG by 67%

February 13, 2015 By Joseph Decker Leave a Comment

Founder of Uber Promises 50,000 Jobs

January 19, 2015 By David Kellen Leave a Comment

Smuggling Pushes Many Cactus Species to Verge of Extinction

October 6, 2015 By Lonnie Davidson Leave a Comment

Three Muslim Students Killed in Apartment Near Chapel Hill

February 11, 2015 By Joseph Decker Leave a Comment

China Demanding Real Names Be Used on Social Media

February 4, 2015 By Adam Lynch Leave a Comment

Related Articles

  • patient and doctor shaking hands

    Always Seeing the Same Doctor Lowers Early Death Risk (Study)

    Jun 29, 2018
  • people who work out

    What Happens When You Work Out

    Jun 28, 2018
  • female flight attendant

    Flight Attendants, More Likely to Develop Some Types of Cancer (Study)

    Jun 26, 2018
  • overweight person

    Body-Positive Movement Likely Contributes to Obesity Crisis (Study)

    Jun 25, 2018
  • Alzheimer's symptoms

    Herpes Virus Might Be Linked to Alzheimer’s (Study)

    Jun 22, 2018
  • cup of coffee

    Coffee Might Be Good for Your Heart, But with a Limit (Study)

    Jun 22, 2018
  • Parkinson's in the brain

    Parkinson’s Drugs Can Make People Gamblers or Sex Addicts

    Jun 21, 2018
  • freshly-made pizza

    Why Your Brain Loves Fatty, High-Carb Foods (Study)

    Jun 19, 2018
  • group of teens

    Teens Having Less Sex, Doing Less Drugs, More Are Depressed

    Jun 15, 2018
  • woman sleeping

    Too Much or Too Little Sleep are Both Bad for Your Health (Study)

    Jun 14, 2018

Categories

  • Business
  • Education
  • Entertainment
  • Headlines
  • Health
  • Nature
  • Science
  • Sports
  • Technology
  • U.S.
  • Uncategorized
  • World

Copyright © 2021 lighthousenewsdaily.com

About | Contact · Staff · Terms and Conditions · Privacy Policy

This website uses cookies to ensure you get the best experience on our website. Learn more.