Naloxone training backed for heaviest drug users

The heaviest opioid users may be the best candidates to get training in the use of naloxone, a drug that reverses an overdose, according to a new study by the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Health departments and nonprofits around the country, including in Baltimore, have been giving out naloxone and training people how to use it to prevent opioid deaths. The researchers interviewed 450 drug users in Baltimore and found that users who had witnessed more drug overdoses tended to be those who engaged in riskier drug use and used drugs in more places. The study, published in the journal Substance Abuse, comes as the opioid crisis continues to worsen and deaths surge. “A user can’t administer naloxone to himself when he’s overdosing, so from a public health standpoint we need to figure out which users are most likely to witness other users’ overdoses and thus be in position to revive them,” senior author Carl A. Latkin, a professor in the Bloomberg School’s Department of Health, Behavior and Society, said in a statement. “Our results indicate that the likeliest overdose witnesses are the heavier users who use in a wider range of settings.”

Ex-Oriole Belle charged with indecent exposure

Former Orioles outfielder Albert Belle was arrested Saturday night near Scottsdale, Ariz., on charges of indecent exposure and DUI, according to the Maricopa County Sheriff ’s Office. Belle, 51, was charged with two counts of indecent exposure, one count of DUI and one count of DUI with a blood alcohol content of 0.15 or more. The Salt River Police Department, which handled his arrest, said Monday that Belle and another man exposed themselves to two adults and two juveniles in the parking lot of the Phoenix Rising Soccer Club Stadium in the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community. According to Salt River police, officers stopped Belle because his vehicle matched the description of that of the two men in the indecent exposure call. He and another adult, who has not been named, were arrested. Belle, who played for the Orioles in 1999 and 2000, was booked into the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office jail on Sunday and released the same day. The Salt River department said the investigation is continuing and the case has been referred to the county attorney’s office. It was not known whether Belle had an attorney. A five-time All-Star, Belle was one of the most productive hitters of the 1990s, winning five Silver Slugger awards and leading the American League in RBIs three times and home runs once. The Orioles made him the majors’ highest-paid player, giving him five-year, $65 million deal before the 1999 season. He played two seasons here before degenerative hip osteoarthritis forced him to retire in spring training 2001 at age 34.