Victor Ballinas
Newspaper La Jornada
Monday, July 18, 2022, p. 13
The Senate Health Commission approved an opinion to release the control of the sale of naloxone, a medicine generally available in a nasal spray and that has the ability to reverse opioid overdoses, as well as chemical drugs such as heroin, fentanyl and glass.
In a work meeting of that legislative body, it was indicated that among the characteristics of naloxone, it stands out that it is a controlled drug, but necessary to save the lives of those who consume fentanyl, glass and other excess substances.
It is difficult to access for those people who face an opioid overdose due to its classification in the General Health Law, as a drug for controlled use.
The initiative was presented by Senators from Morena Olga Sánchez Cordero and Ricardo Monreal with the aim of removing naloxone from the list of psychotropic substances so that this drug can be purchased without a prescription in pharmacies as part of the treatment to reverse the effects of an overdose from opioid use.
It was explained that currently the people who provide assistance at the time of the crisis resort to practices such as beating the patient, putting ice on them or intravenously administering a concentrated solution of water with salt, methods that lack efficacy, particularly in those cases where there is the presence of fentanyl
.
In the opinion approved by the aforementioned commission, it is emphasized that naloxone It is not a psychotropic substance, since it does not produce alterations in the central nervous system.
; In addition, it quickly counteracts the actions of opioids such as morphine, heroin, oxycodone, fentanyl and its derivatives.”
It can be given by nasal spray or as an intramuscular, subcutaneous, or intravenous injection and it has no effect on those who do not have opioids in their body
is emphasized in the draft decree that reforms section IV of article 245 of the General Health Law, proposed by the morenistas.
The senators stressed that the scope of this reform represents a significant advance in the formulation of public policies, since it takes into account the effectiveness of decisions with a focus on harm reduction, which represents an indisputable paradigm shift in responses to drug use.
