It’s a scene that is growing more common. Someone slumps over in a public place, say a nightclub or a city park.
They have intentionally or accidentally taken an opioid like fentanyl, which can be deadly upon first use for some people.
As their pupils constrict and they struggle to breathe, people scatter for help, call the cops or an ambulance, but the response is too late.
On Wednesday, state Assemblymember Matt Haney, D-San Francisco, introduced Assembly Bill 1976, a bill that would require all employers to keep naloxone nasal spray in first aid kids. Current regulations require all businesses who employ people to have a first aid kit in the breakroom or common space. Its contents are checked by inspectors from the city or county health department and regulated by the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health, or Cal/OSHA.
“So, if I see somebody who looks like they’re overdosing, I can run into a store and ask for the first aid kit and pull it out,” said Haney’s spokesperson Nate Allbee. “Hopefully using that one to two minutes that they have to get someone naloxone before they die.”
Naloxone is the life-saving ingredient in the overdose antidote brand Narcan. It has no significant side effects, even when mistakenly given to a person who has not taken opioids. In today’s prices, it would cost $40 for the required two doses, which have a shelf life of four years.
According to Albee, that price may drop when the state begins to create their own supply, along with insulin, in the next five years.
“It’s very similar to what happened with condoms in the 80s around the HIV epidemic. Previously, you had to go to the pharmacist and ask for the condoms,” Allbee said. “We decided as a culture that we needed condoms to be ubiquitous and get them everywhere.”
If AB 1976 is signed into law by the governor later this year, it would go into action Jan. 1, 2025.
Businesses would then have another year to abide by the new law before any penalties go into effect.
Fentanyl is a potent synthetic opioid drug approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for use as a pain reliever and anesthetic. It is approximately 100 times more potent than morphine and 50 times more potent than heroin. According to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, California reported 7,510 deaths from synthetic opioids in a 12-month period ending August 2023, a dramatic rise from 1,175 in 2019.
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration reports that more than half of the counterfeit prescription pills being trafficked in communities across the country now contain a potentially deadly dose of fentanyl.
The bill does not yet have co-sponsors, but Haney’s office feels it is a no-brainer.
“Traditionally opponents of this kind of bill would be special business organizations like the chamber of commerce. But to be honest, at this point in the process, people are pretty much all in agreement that this is something that we need to do,” he said.
… more over reach by the dems imho…. If mandated, should be paid for by the state .. too much Borden already placed on businesses
No, if your taking fentanyl your taking your life into you own hands, If you die it should be a suicide.
I will never give someone that.
AED, Epipen,
I guess I’m ok with this one, but….
Sad our societies have come to this….
Coronary events and allergic reactions are not voluntary. Ingesting fentanyl or anything that could be laced with fentanyl is voluntary, and the consequences are well deserved.
Agreed !
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There are infants and children who are sometimes poisoned out of no fault of their own, so I’m ok with the Bill.
I’ve no sympathy for druggies.
Dems need to keep their voting base alive long enough to vote twice in the next election.
lol but so true! 😂
Bills like this make me wonder if the good assemblyman is getting a kick-back from the manufacturer of Narcan.
Probably. Maybe the state should supply them. And then there will be the first law suit where a worker at the business applied the antidote and the person died from it.
Heck no! I’ve barely seen any tweakers since they all switched to fentanyl. I’d much rather step over someone who OD’d then have them assault me because I looked at their car wrong or something. The last thing we should be doing is making it easier to save these losers.
Pass a law making drug users carry an antidote at all times. If addicts caught with drugs and no antidote then it’s jail or rehab. Stop making the public responsible for addicts messy life style
It will be paid for by the taxpayers, one way or the other. How much will Big Pharma kick back to the politicians, more that the 10% the Big Guy gets?
Only first responders should handle anyone overdosing due to the potential danger of personal contamination.
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No member of the general public should risk their personal safety for an opiod user.
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You reap what you sow.
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… Not sorry.
Take the drug and suffer the consequences. Not my problem and it shouldn’t be the business owners responsibility either.
tax deductible. Win-win tbh
Let’s keep protecting the stupid people’s bad choices … what happened to sow what you reap? You choose to drink, take drugs, steal … pay the consequences. If you can’t, then don’t. I for one am tired of bailing people out cause they are doing something illegal and making poor decisions.
There is simply no accountability any longer in this state.
If this passes, we should charge the criminal for the cost of the medication. If they have insurance, make them pay. If they have none, take it out of whatever they own or make them work off the debt like a real person. Yep, I like a debtors prison for this group of people who cost us money for illegal acts – this debtor prison should not be used cause you failed to pay your loan – and this prison should require you to work for room , board and the money cover the cost of whatever was provided to you.
Ever notice that Democrats will hold everyone responsible except people perpetrating wrongdoing? Thieves stealing cars? Sue the car maker. Stores shutting down due to theft and violence? Accuse businesses of racism and creating “food deserts.” People speeding on the roads? Mandate speed governors in all cars.
Every problem is an opportunity to grow their power over us. All because they care so much about our “safety.”
They should feel free to suggest and advocate Narcan availability. Maybe immunize people from liability for administering it. But mandating it is passing the responsibility from the perpetrator to others.
As a side note, just because someone is ODing doesn’t make them a dirtbag. Claycord had an article about an officer saving an infant that had been exposed to opiates a while back with Narcan. Making it available is a good thing. The life it saves may be yours. But it should not be mandated.
Why would any business owner want to accept the responsibility of administering this drug to a person who may not have overdosed but shows symptoms of having overdosed?
And when the person or the store it done in can be sued due to brain damage for saving the addicts life.
Lol not in my store!
I agree with all you guys talking about responsibility and who should bear it. Having said that, if that medicine is within my reach and I can save a life, even a scurvy life, I’m gonna do it.
Failure to address the root cause.
Make a law the requires drug dealers to give Narcan to each customer at the time of purchase.