FDA Takes First Step in Making NARCAN Available Over the Counter
High Times
As of Tuesday, certain naloxone products like NARCAN have been evaluated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and determined to be safe enough to potentially be sold over the counter in the near future. “Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued a Federal Register notice, Safety and Effectiveness of Certain Naloxone Hydrochloride Drug Products for Nonprescription Use, that may help facilitate the development and approval of certain nonprescription naloxone drug products, including through the switch of certain naloxone drug products from prescription status to nonprescription status,” the FDA announcement said. For those who don’t know, NARCAN is basically a nasal spray that acts as an anti-opiate of sorts. Naloxone is used alongside buprenorphine in the drug Suboxone which is used to treat the symptoms of opiate withdrawal. The key difference in NARCAN is that it’s naloxone by itself at a relatively high dose, which has absolutely no potential for abuse on its own. “Naloxone is a medicine that rapidly reverses an opioid overdose. It is an opioid antagonist. This means that it attaches to opioid receptors and reverses and blocks the effects of other opioids. Naloxone can quickly restore normal breathing to a person if their breathing has slowed or stopped because of an opioid overdose. But, naloxone has no effect on someone who does not have opioids in their system, and it is not a treatment for opioid use disorder.” – Excerpt from the National Institute of Health website. At the moment you aren’t necessarily required to have a prescription to obtain NARCAN but in most cases you need to get it directly from a pharmacist and it can be very expensive. I obtained four free doses through this program, but the point is most addicts simply don’t have the regular access to NARCAN that they require.…
Excerpt only …
READ MORE BELOW
Source : FDA Takes First Step in Making NARCAN Available Over the Counter
reposted by Cannabis News World