Originally Posted by
Adelaide
An opiate overdose can happen in like 10 seconds without a person realizing until they stop breathing or lose consciousness. Sure, it would be handy for every person abusing opiates to carry around Narcan, but it's also probably going to be useless unless someone else is there to administer it.
I mentioned earlier that public services in a few Canadian cities were handing out Narcan to groups of homeless users or known users and the overdose-related death rate dropped pretty drastically because they could use it on each other in emergencies, before police or paramedics arrive. We are talking about police being allowed to administer it, but the reality is that people are dying at an alarming rate because an overdose happens so quickly. Yes, police should be allowed to use and carry it. Yes, people should also be carrying it but it is probably going to have to be a friend or family member that administers it.