Governor McCrory signed a bill Monday increasing the availability of a life-saving medication that's used to treat some drug overdoses.
With this new law, pharmacies can start offering Naloxone without a prescription. Before, it was only available to first responders and a few prevention organizations.
“Addressing mental health, substance use, underage drinking and drug overdose have been primary focuses of our team since day one,” said Governor McCrory, who prioritized these issues in his first State of the State address. “Signing this legislation builds on our success and will save lives throughout North Carolina. I want to thank our legislators for unanimously passing this bipartisan initiative.”
“I think this bill is going to save literally thousands of lives," says McCrory.
Fred Brason with the health advocacy group Project Lazarus says Naloxone is currently administered through injection or a nasal spray. He adds that it can help prevent many types of overdoses.
“We had patients who would misuse, we had family and friends who were sharing to self-medicate, we had accidental ingestions, we had recreational users, as well as the person with a substance abuse disorder," says Branson.
According to the CDC, opioid-related deaths in the U.S. have quadrupled since 1999. The bipartisan measure makes North Carolina the third state in the country to make Naloxone available without a prescription.