Naloxone. (File photo by Paul Pedro, Blackburn News.)Naloxone. (File photo by Paul Pedro, Blackburn News.)
Sarnia

Free Overdose Nasal Spray Available By End Of March

A free nasal spray that counteracts the effects of fatal opioid overdoses is coming to Ontario pharmacies by the end of the month.

As part of the Ontario Naloxone Program, Narcan Nasal Spray will be given to anyone with an OHIP card.

Currently, an injectable kit is the only free form of naloxone that's available in the province, but Ottawa pharmacist Mark Barnes says the nasal spray is much easier to administer for the general public.

He says the spray is also unlikely to cause someone harm in any situation, so it should be given to anyone who may be suffering an opioid overdose.

"Whether you know the substance or not and someone shows the signs of an overdose, then you would certainly administer naloxone just in case you're right," says Barnes.

Ontario is the first province to make the nasal spray available for free and Barnes says the Ministry of Health is still working on getting it into the hands of drug users who don't have OHIP cards.

"In my pharmacy, certainly because of my supplies and my passion for the profession, I've given out some free naloxone kits where I hadn't been reimbursed just because I believe in it," he says. "I don't expect pharmacies to do that, I expect the Ministry of Health will come up with a program that helps all people in Ontario."

The Lambton Kent District School Board recently made the nasal spray available to students across all of their high schools. The spray also saved someone's life in Chatham-Kent back in January.

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