Narcan is getting into more Pennsylvania hands, and overdoses are being reversed.
“I am happy to report, over five years, overdose deaths have really dropped markedly,” said Molly Stanton, the assistant administrator for drug and alcohol services in Lehigh County.
They are down 30% countywide since 2021, Stanton said.
“We have dollars now available, and we think we are driving them out effectively,” said Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro.
Shapiro was in Wyoming County in a roundtable discussion, saying $2 billion in opioid settlement funds are being used to expand treatment and Narcan across the state.
In the last year, 800,000 doses were distributed, leading to more than 11,000 overdose reversals.
“No one should leave here feeling as though the job is done, because we’re still losing six Pennsylvanians every single day, which is six too many,” he added.
At Change on Hamilton recovery center in Allentown, a hub of Narcan in Lehigh County, Keith Smith says access is making a difference.
“We’re getting more and more walk-ins with people who are looking for treatment,” he said.
Stanton stresses that treatment doesn’t equal enablement but survival.
“To give somebody Narcan, to give somebody test strips, ensures that they stay alive long enough to get into treatment and become a member of our community again,” she said.