Any drug treatment service considering providing a child or young person under 18 with training on overdose management or on the use of naloxone, or considering direct supply of naloxone, should act in line with established clinical principles for the treatment of children and young people. This is the case whether the goal of such consideration is to reduce risks to a young person who is using drugs or to reduce risk for others (such as an opioid-using parent).
Naloxone on the shelf of a nurse’s office or in the cupboard of a health center is not the optimal place to store the drug …
…It is imperative that naloxone be placed directly with the people who are most at risk of an overdose or are most likely to witness an overdose: the roommates, family members, friends and even relative strangers. – Jennifer Plumb
Rather than telling people that they are powerless in the face of the drugs they use, naloxone shows people that they can be in control of their own health promotion, and the promotion of their peers. Given access to naloxone drug users will (and do) support each other.
