HARM REDUCTION
GET IT OUT THERE
I recently presented on naloxone at a conference where I was introduced as a ‘ poacher turned gamekeeper ’. I didn ’ t take offence – I ’ ve been called much worse over the course of my recently finished 30-year policing career .
But it did make me question the impact I ’ d had in relation to drugs over my career , from the overdose deaths that I routinely attended in my early years as an officer in Hull – wholly unaware of the existence of naloxone or how it could have helped me save lives – to arresting for simple possession , and on to my strong advocacy of naloxone with Durham Constabulary , and national policing as a whole , towards the latter end of my career .
Figures from the Office for National Statistics almost
Regulations around the supply of naloxone have changed , says Jason Meecham – and you need to get involved
perfectly encapsulate the span of my career , and they ’ re not pleasant reading . Between 1993 and 2023 the agestandardised mortality rates for deaths by any opiate in England and Wales rose from 8.4 deaths per million people to 43.8 – an increase of 421 per cent . To make that real , that ’ s 2,551 deaths during 2023 . We need to do more to prevent the deaths .
The Human Medicines ( Amendments Relating to Naloxone ) Regulations 2024 ( HMR ) came into force in December last year . While I used the previous regulations to raise the profile and use of naloxone within policing , these new amendments have the potential to become the most significant moment in the battle against opioid-related deaths in the UK in recent years .
WIDER ACCESS For years , harm reduction advocates have called for broader access to naloxone . The recent HMR amendments reflect not only these calls , but also the feedback received during recent public consultations on widening the availability of naloxone .
At its simplest , the amendments significantly increase the number of organisations permitted to supply naloxone – in its nasal and intramuscular formats – to others , without the need for a prescription . Previously the regulations had restricted this ability to those employed or engaged by drug treatment service providers . These new changes allow for people working in the following groups to now do the same – police services , prison services , youth justice services , registered midwives , registered nurses , registered paramedics , registered pharmacy professionals and medical services with HM armed forces .
What ’ s particularly exciting is that these changes provide the opportunity to reach new cohorts of individuals who may not possess naloxone because they either don ’ t access traditional drug treatment services or regularly see a GP , or they may have previously been offered naloxone but declined . The addition of these new groups represents an opportunity to extend naloxone ’ s lifesaving potential to more people than ever before .
LOCAL PROVIDERS While the new groups specified in the regulations are selfexplanatory , the regulations also create a new entity , that of ‘ local naloxone provider ’ ( LNP ). People working for , or engaged by , an LNP will be able to benefit from the same naloxone exemptions as those groups already mentioned – the ability to provide naloxone without prescription .
Jane Barlow / Alamy
14 • DRINK AND DRUGS NEWS • MARCH 2025 WWW . DRINKANDDRUGSNEWS . COM