EDM 1561: Naloxone

That this House recognises the importance of naloxone as a lifesaving medication that temporarily reverses the effects of an opioid overdose; expresses alarm at the broad rise of deaths involving opioids in recent years; acknowledges that an addiction to drugs is not a lifestyle choice, nor a moral flaw, but a chronic life-threatening health condition; notes that naloxone, administered as a nasal spray or injection, instantly and temporarily blocks the effects of the opioid taken, which gives enough time to call emergency services and for them to arrive, making it lifesaving; celebrates that naloxone can be legally administered by anyone in the UK in an emergency situation and recent progress in expanding access to naloxone; accepts that more needs to be done to urgently increase access to naloxone, train more first responders, and increase public awareness of naloxone; and therefore calls on the Government to ensure that naloxone is made available at key public locations, a national naloxone programme is introduced, and a national public awareness campaign is commissioned.