Narcan approval seen as benefit to the city

Police say narcan has already saved numerous lives in Long Beach

By BRENDAN CARPENTER bcarpenter@liherald.com

The federal government’s approval of Narcan, the leading version of the overdose-reversing drug naloxone, is going to prove a benefit to Long Beach, city officials and experts said this week.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved a Narcan, four-milligram naloxone hydrochloride nasal spray for over-the-counter sale, without a prescription, on March 29. The Narcan-branded spray is the first naloxone product approved for use without a prescription.

“For people who can’t come to a training (session), we think it’s a great thing,” Long Beach Police Commissioner and Acting City Manager Ron Walsh said of the FDA’s approval. “Narcan has wound up saving countless lives across the United States and certainly within the county and the City of Long Beach.”

“We have evidence we’ve saved many, many lives and we’re not going to stop our public education campaign and distribution of Narcan just because the FDA has approved the drug for everyone to use,” Walsh said.

In 2022 alone, the city’s police department and fire department administered Narcan 85 times. Police said the department saved 30 lives and the fire department 29 lives. There were also two lives saved by EMT’s who assisted the departments.

Along with that, police and fire officials said that they are aware of seven instances when civilians administered naloxone, and five lives were saved.

Walsh said the department is also talking to the Long Beach School District about potential trainings for staff members in the future.

“We fully support anything that can save a life,”

Walsh said.

The Long Beach Police Department has held presentations addressing alcohol and drug abuse for citizens the first in December 2021. Since then, the department has offered numerous training sessions across the city. They’ve gone to the North Park Community Center, Channel Park Homes, Long Island Railroad and, most recently, the Grandell Rehabilitation and Nursing Center.

There is also a pop-up program

“You can’t help anyone if they’re dead,” said Judi Vining, the executive director of Long Beach AWARE. “Narcan can prevent death. It doesn’t prevent addiction but it gives the person a chance to live and then maybe get into treatment and get some help and live a healthy normal life. So, it’s very big step in bridging the gap between someone who’s not ready to be in treatment.”

More than 106,000 people died from drug overdoses in the United States in 2021 and more than 101,000 in 2022. According to the National Institute of Health, just nearly 80 percent were opioid-involved deaths.

“The FDA remains committed to addressing the evolving complexities of the overdose crisis,” FDA Commissioner Robert M. Califf said in a release. “As part of this work, the agency has used its regulatory authority to facilitate greater access to naloxone by encouraging the development of and approving an over-the-counter naloxone product to address the dire public health need.”

Naloxone is a medication that rapidly reverses the effects of opioid overdose and is the standard treatment for opioid overdose. The approval paves the way for the life-saving medication to be sold directly to consumers in places like drug stores, convenience stores, grocery stores and gas stations, as well as online. The cost of the spray varies slightly from different locations but can cost up to $90 for a pack of two.

The approval of the spray “will help improve access to naloxone, increase the number of locations where it’s available and help reduce opioid overdose deaths throughout the country,” Califf said. “We encourage the manufacturer to make accessibility to the product a priority by making it available as soon as possible and at an affordable price.”