Is Naloxone Making the Opioid Epidemic Worse?

Guest: Jennifer Doleac, PhD, Assistant Professor of Public Policy and Economics, Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy, University of Virginia, Founding Director, Justice Tech Lab Opioids now account for two-thirds of all drug overdose deaths in the United States. One tool states are using to prevent those deaths is naloxone. It’s a medication that can reverse the effects of an overdose – literally save that person’s life - if administered quickly.  So EMTs now carry it with them in ambulances. But all states now have laws making naloxone accessible to everyday people – some would like to see it in everyone’s medicine cabinet, given how common opioid overdose has become.  But what if knowing you’ve got a safety net sitting in your medicine cabinet actually makes someone more likely to overdose on opioids?