Take-Home Naloxone and the Prevention of Deaths from Heroin Overdose

Naloxone is a drug that can reverse the effects of opioid drugs like heroin, methadone, opium, codeine, morphine and buprenorphine, and is an important aid in preventing drug-related deaths.

Overdose deaths are often witnessed and can be prevented by the people who are most likely to come into contact with someone using substances carrying naloxone kits.

This article explores 5 needs in the relation to take-home naloxone:

1. the need for strong science;
2. our improved understanding of opioid overdose and deaths;
3. the search for greater impact from our policies and interventions;
4. developing better forms of naloxone; 
5. examining the challenges still to be addressed

Authors key message

“Take-home naloxone” is an exemplar of harm reduction with potential global impact – drug policy and practice for the public good. However, “having the potential” is not good enough – there needs to be actual implementation. This will be easier once the component parts of “take-home naloxone” are improved (better naloxone products, better training aids, revised legislation, and explicit funding support). Many improvements are already possible, but we hesitate about implementation. It is our responsibility to drive progress faster. With “take-home naloxone,” we can be proud of what we have achieved, but we must also be humble about how much more we still need to do.