BMJ 2014;348:g1686 doi: 10.1136/bmj.g1686 (Published 20 February 2014)
Page 1 of 1
News
NEWS Norway tries naloxone in spray form to prevent deaths from drug overdose Anders Hansen Stockholm
Norway’s two biggest cities, Oslo and Bergen, plan to offer drug users naloxone in the form of a nasal spray. Naloxone is an antidote to opiates and is used to treat opiate overdoses, such as overdoses of heroin. An advantage of giving naloxone as a nasal spray rather than an injection is that it is easy to use and can, in the case of an overdose, be administered by people without a medical background who may be afraid to give an injection. Another advantage is that it prevents the spread of infections such as HIV or hepatitis B and C, since needles are not used.
Drug overdoses are relatively common in Norway in comparison with many other countries in Western Europe. The Norwegian Institute for Alcohol and Drug Research (SIRUS) said that 262 drug related deaths occurred in Norway in 2011, including 207 from opioids and 74 from heroin. The country’s health minister, Jonas Gahr Støre, commented to the daily newspaper Dagsavisen about the plan to offer naloxone, “The numbers of deaths from drug overdoses is too high. I would say it’s a shame for Norway.”
To offer naloxone to drug misusers and their relatives can be seen as a step towards harm reduction policies instead of tougher legislation. But it is not without controversy in
For personal use only: See rights and reprints http://www.bmj.com/permissions
Norway—historically a conservative country—and some consider it a step towards a more liberal drug policy.
A supervised injecting room with access to clean needles was opened in the centre of Oslo in 2005, but this has been considered too controversial to extend to other Norwegian cities. And in 2013 Gahr Støre sparked intense debate when he suggested that smoking heroin should be legalised to help drug users switch from injecting the drug to smoking it. “My opinion is that we should allow them to smoke heroin. Injecting it is worse and more dangerous,” Gahr Støre said.
The UK newspaper the Guardian1 noted that naloxone in spray form would be distributed to drug users and their relatives from non-medical environments such as cheap hotels or drop-in centres. It remains to be seen whether other countries will follow Norway’s example. 1
Lewis, M. Norway to trial nasal spray antidote to heroin overdose. Guardian 16 Feb 2014. www.theguardian.com/world/2014/feb/16/norway-trial-nasal-spray-antidote-heroinoverdose.
Cite this as: BMJ 2014;348:g1686 © BMJ Publishing Group Ltd 2014
Subscribe: http://www.bmj.com/subscribe
Page 1 of 1
News
NEWS Norway tries naloxone in spray form to prevent deaths from drug overdose Anders Hansen Stockholm
Norway’s two biggest cities, Oslo and Bergen, plan to offer drug users naloxone in the form of a nasal spray. Naloxone is an antidote to opiates and is used to treat opiate overdoses, such as overdoses of heroin. An advantage of giving naloxone as a nasal spray rather than an injection is that it is easy to use and can, in the case of an overdose, be administered by people without a medical background who may be afraid to give an injection. Another advantage is that it prevents the spread of infections such as HIV or hepatitis B and C, since needles are not used.
Drug overdoses are relatively common in Norway in comparison with many other countries in Western Europe. The Norwegian Institute for Alcohol and Drug Research (SIRUS) said that 262 drug related deaths occurred in Norway in 2011, including 207 from opioids and 74 from heroin. The country’s health minister, Jonas Gahr Støre, commented to the daily newspaper Dagsavisen about the plan to offer naloxone, “The numbers of deaths from drug overdoses is too high. I would say it’s a shame for Norway.”
To offer naloxone to drug misusers and their relatives can be seen as a step towards harm reduction policies instead of tougher legislation. But it is not without controversy in
For personal use only: See rights and reprints http://www.bmj.com/permissions
Norway—historically a conservative country—and some consider it a step towards a more liberal drug policy.
A supervised injecting room with access to clean needles was opened in the centre of Oslo in 2005, but this has been considered too controversial to extend to other Norwegian cities. And in 2013 Gahr Støre sparked intense debate when he suggested that smoking heroin should be legalised to help drug users switch from injecting the drug to smoking it. “My opinion is that we should allow them to smoke heroin. Injecting it is worse and more dangerous,” Gahr Støre said.
The UK newspaper the Guardian1 noted that naloxone in spray form would be distributed to drug users and their relatives from non-medical environments such as cheap hotels or drop-in centres. It remains to be seen whether other countries will follow Norway’s example. 1
Lewis, M. Norway to trial nasal spray antidote to heroin overdose. Guardian 16 Feb 2014. www.theguardian.com/world/2014/feb/16/norway-trial-nasal-spray-antidote-heroinoverdose.
Cite this as: BMJ 2014;348:g1686 © BMJ Publishing Group Ltd 2014
Subscribe: http://www.bmj.com/subscribe
