BOISE, ID — Narcan, the overdose reversal nasal spray, has been cleared for over the counter sale. It is expected to be sold in a box of two for about 50 dollars.
Jacob Evans, CEO of HOPE Guides, and a former opioid addict himself, explained that having easy access to these kinds of resources is important to those who may be needing help.
“When it comes to readily accessible life-saving drugs, we need these materials to give people a fighting chance,” said Evans.
Until now, those who used the drug would have to put their name on a database in order to get their prescription, and that may have frightened some users away due to it being a public record.
“In terms of it being an even bigger deal, is that the wait time between EMS staff being able to come and administer the drug has now shrunk because you can do it in your own home,” said Evans
Evans believes that with this drug being over the counter it may greatly impact the amount of lives saved as well as contribute to creating more safety precautions to prevent overdoses.
According to the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare, from 2010 to 2022 more than 2,900 Idahoans died from an overdose, with 353 overdose deaths in 2021 alone.
Evans says that having this drug available is not the end all be all however, it can in fact contribute to a bigger solution.
According to Evans, “It keeps people alive long enough to actually be able to receive the life-saving therapeutics that they need. Then it would need to be caveated with an additional step which is connecting them to somebody like Nampa Narcan, which provides peer recovery and specialists for people to be able to access treatments regardless of their situation.”
If you or a loved one are struggling with an addiction to narcotics, resources are out there. You can reach out to a support group like HOPE Guides or Nampa Narcan here.
