Free naloxone in British Columbia prevents 4 out of 5 overdose deaths

A study of B.C.'s Take Home Naloxone program found that access to free naloxone prevented 76 to 80 percent of potential opioid poisoning deaths between 2019 and 2024. The research, led by Mike Irvine at the B.C. Centre for Disease Control, models that overdose prevention and supervised consumption sites prevented approximately 340 potential deaths per 100,000 people who injected drugs.

The study estimates prevented deaths through modeling; 12,356 lives were still lost to toxic drugs during this period, underscoring ongoing need for additional prevention efforts.