Distribution of free Naloxone kits skyrockets in Quebec

The number of Naloxone kits distributed free at Quebec pharmacies has increased tenfold in six years, from 6,892 distributed in 2017-18 to 78,360 over the last year, according to the latest numbers from the province’s health insurance board, the Régie de l’assurance maladie du Québec (RAMQ).

“Glad that the measures put in place to raise awareness of Naloxone are working. I invite all Quebecers to obtain it from pharmacies,” Social Services Minister Lionel Carmant said in a posting on the social media site X Wednesday.

The province started offering the kits free in all pharmacies to anyone aged 14 or older without requiring a prescription in 2018.

Tens of thousands more kits are also distributed annually by community organizations.

Naloxone, which can be administered by nasal spray or injection, is used to treat overdoses of opioids such as fentanyl, heroin and morphine.

“It can save lives. We’re very happy about this,” Jean-Pierre Rouleau, spokesperson for ambulance service Urgences-Santé, told CBC News in an interview Wednesday.

Rouleau said people overdosing on opioids stop breathing and can die within minutes.

“Naloxone is like an antidote. Respiratory functions resume and the patient finally starts breathing again,” Rouleau said.

He said more and more paramedics are responding to overdose calls and finding, when they arrive, that somebody has already administered Naloxone.

‘Everyone should have one’

Despite the increased uptake in free Naloxone kits, the number of people dying from overdoses annually in Quebec has remained steady, averaging around 500 a year since 2018. Last year, 536 people died from overdoses, according to Quebec’s public health institute, the Institut national de santé publique du Québec (INSPQ).

Public health experts say that just underscores the importance of having kits widely available.

Benoit Morin, president of the Quebec Association of Proprietor Pharmacists, told CBC News in an interview Wednesday that up until now it’s been mostly regular drug users and their friends and family that have been obtaining kits.

He said governments need to do more to make people aware of Naloxone and its benefits, and more people should have it on hand.

Morin said, for example, all parents of teenagers should keep a kit in the house.

“If you have somebody in your house that goes to festivals or parties in the summer, or get together with friends and uses drugs once in a while, they should know about Naloxone,” Morin said.

“Everyone should have one,” Rouleau said.

He said even non drug-users can keep a kit at home in case they witness an overdose.

Morin said since the kits are free and easily accessible, there’s no downside.

“There’s no side effects. There’s no problem. It’s very easy to use. You just spray in a nostril one shot and people come back,” Morin said.

“Having a Naloxone kit at home can mean the difference between life and death,” Rouleau said.