STATE HOUSE, BOSTON — The Massachusetts Legislature has passed a measure to allow the distribution of a heroin overdose antidote known as Narcan directly to heroin addicts and their relatives.
One day several years ago, Bridgewater resident Steve Wohlen was lying on his front lawn, barely breathing. He was overdosing on heroin. His mother, Linda, ran outside, dropped to her knees and sprayed two squirts of a drug called Narcan up her son’s nose. What happened next sounds like a miracle:
“Almost immediately he came around. By the time the ambulance got there he was alert and talking,” Linda Wohlen said.
Narcan or its generic naloxone can bring people back from potentially fatal overdoses. It counteracts the effects of heroin, OxyContin and other powerful painkillers and has been used by ambulance crews and emergency rooms for decades.
Now Massachusetts lawmakers want to allow doctors to prescribe the drug directly to addicts and their family members.
Critics say giving Narcan to addicts might make them feel invincible because they have an antidote and encourage more drug use and more overdoses.
But Maryanne Frangules from the Massachusetts Organization for Addiction and Recovery doesn’t think that’s likely. She said this provision could save thousands of lives.
“We have a real horrendous epidemic of opiates and other drugs in our state. We lost 4,500 lives to opioid and opiate overdoses from 2002 to 2009. And this is one measure that’s moving towards supporting prevention, treatment and recovery,” she said.
The Narcan provision is part of an omnibus crime and sentencing bill. It was passed by the Legislature this week and is in front of the governor for his consideration.
Material from the Associated Press was used in this report.
