OTC and Prescription Drug Abuse Slideshow Pictures Health Risks of Alcohol Abuse Slideshow Pictures

Medical Author:

Mark Zwanger, MD, MBA

Medical Editor:

Roxanne Dryden-Edwards, MD

Roxanne Dryden-Edwards, MD

Dr. Roxanne Dryden-Edwards is an adult, child, and adolescent psychiatrist. She is a former Chair of the Committee on Developmental Disabilities for the American Psychiatric Association, Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland, and Medical Director of the National Center for Children and Families in Bethesda, Maryland.

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When to Seek Medical Care

People who use narcotics or other drugs of abuse and are interested in quitting should contact their doctor or local hospital for information on how to get involved with a detoxification and addiction recovery program.

• Any person suspected of narcotic overdose requires immediate medical attention and must be taken to a hospital's emergency department.



• The main physical signs of narcotic overdose are small pupils and respiratory depression (shallow breathing) that can lead to decreased oxygen in the blood, coma, and death.



• Street methods of overdose resuscitation, such as packing the person in ice or injecting milk or saliva, do not work.