{"id":109934,"date":"2025-09-01T02:53:10","date_gmt":"2025-09-01T02:53:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/109934\/"},"modified":"2025-09-01T02:53:10","modified_gmt":"2025-09-01T02:53:10","slug":"nitazenes-in-drug-supply-lead-to-ministers-life-saving-naloxone-plea","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/109934\/","title":{"rendered":"Nitazenes in drug supply lead to minister\u2019s \u2018life-saving\u2019 naloxone plea"},"content":{"rendered":"

Scots who carry naloxone are being urged to have \u201cextra life-saving kits\u201d of the drug to hand, with a warning that \u201cdangerous\u201d synthetic opioids such as nitazenes mean repeat doses may be needed.<\/p>\n

Drug and alcohol policy minister Maree Todd issued the advice after being shown how to administer naloxone \u2013 which can reverse the effects of an opioid overdose \u2013 during a visit to an ambulance station in Glasgow.<\/p>\n

The Scottish Ambulance Service\u2019s take home naloxone programme has already given out more than 4,000 naloxone kits to those who might need to give the drug to a friend or family member in the event of an overdose.<\/p>\n

They can administer naloxone while they wait for an ambulance to arrive.<\/p>\n

\"ThePA MediaThe drug naloxone, seen here in nasal spray form, can be used to temporarily reverse an opioid overdose (Jeff J Mitchell\/PA). PA Media<\/p>\n

Between 2011 and the end of last year, 205,650 naloxone kits were handed out as part of Scotland\u2019s national naloxone programme.<\/p>\n

Todd was shown how to administer the drug as she visited Springburn Ambulance Station to mark International Overdose Awareness Day on Sunday.<\/p>\n

It comes after Public Health Scotland issued a warning about the synthetic opioid nitazene earlier this month, after the drug was detected in 38 deaths between January and March 2025.<\/p>\n

Todd said: \u201cEvery drug death is a tragedy, and my condolences go to anyone who has lost a loved one, on a day where we remember them.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"MareePA MediaMaree Todd said she is \u2018determined\u2019 to tackle the harm caused by drugs (PA). PA Media<\/p>\n

She praised the Scottish Ambulance Service and others whose work has been \u201cinstrumental in saving lives, especially at a time when naloxone has become even more important\u201d.<\/p>\n

The minister added: \u201cDue to the presence of an increasingly unpredictable drug supply of highly dangerous synthetic opioids like nitazenes, which raise the risk of overdose, hospitalisation and death, I would urge anyone who carries naloxone to have extra life-saving kits with them so repeat doses can be given if required.\u201d<\/p>\n

She stressed she is \u201cgrateful for the hard work of all the staff who provide this vital frontline service\u201d, and was also \u201cvery pleased to hear about the continued progress in delivery and to be shown how to use the naloxone kits\u201d.<\/p>\n

Todd said she and the Scottish Government are \u201cdetermined to do even more to tackle the harm caused by drugs\u201d.<\/p>\n

She added: \u201cThat\u2019s why we are providing record levels of funding for drugs and alcohol programmes, including widening access to treatment, residential rehabilitation and life-saving naloxone.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have also supported and funded the opening of the UK\u2019s first safer drug consumption facility, and are working at pace to deliver drug-checking facilities.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\"WhatsApp<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Scots who carry naloxone are being urged to have \u201cextra life-saving kits\u201d of the drug to hand, with…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":109935,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[64,63,137,490],"class_list":{"0":"post-109934","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-medication","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-health","11":"tag-medication"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109934","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=109934"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109934\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/109935"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=109934"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=109934"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=109934"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}