Naloxone now available at community pharmacies

To help save lives and prevent overdose deaths, take-home naloxone kits are now available at community pharmacies throughout British Columbia free to people who use opioids or are likely to witness an overdose. Kits will be available at all London Drugs and other pharmacies are being encouraged to stock them too.

Minister of Mental Health and Addictions Judy Darcy  made the announcement Wednesday, “Our most urgent priority is to keep people alive, so we’re dramatically expanding easy access to naloxone. Bringing a friend or a loved one back from the brink of death can hinge on people knowing how to use a naloxone kit and having access to one – and making them available at local pharmacies makes them more accessible than ever.”

About 1,900 kits have been distributed to 220 pharmacies for the first time this month, including pharmacies in the London Drugs and Save-on-Foods chains, as well as a number of
independent pharmacies. Under this expansion of the Take Home Naloxone program, pharmacists provide kits free-of-charge to people who are eligible, as well as training in overdose recognition and response.

To receive a free naloxone kit, British Columbians can visit a participating pharmacy and talk to a pharmacist to determine their eligibility. No-cost kits are available for people who use opioids
or are likely to witness and respond to an overdose. To ensure privacy, identifying information about the person receiving the kit is not tracked.

No-charge naloxone kits also continue to be available at 115 harm reduction sites, in addition to all local health units, hospital emergency departments, corrections facilities and First Nations sites. Find a site via the Toward the Heart website.