POCONO RECORD EDITORIAL: Gov. Tom Wolf’s plan to expand access to a drug-overdose antidote will save lives. Wolf has asked state Physician General Dr. Rachel Levin to write a “standing order” that will let any Pennsylvanian buy naloxone, which reverses the effect of heroin and other opiodes, directly from a pharmacy without a prescription. The new policy also calls for Pennsylvania State Police to carry nasal-spray kits of naloxone in patrol cars.
Naloxone, commonly known by the brand name Narcan, is non-narcotic and non-addictive.
Wolf’s move builds sensibly on legislation passed last year and signed into law by former Gov. Tom Corbett. That bill lets police administer the drug and allows prescriptions to provide it to relatives and friends of drug users. These are the very folks who worry about their loved one’s propensity to drug abuse and who might well be on hand to intervene in the case of an overdose… (more)
