Santa Clara County supervisors urged county health care officials Tuesday to hasten their dispersal of the opioid overdose-reversing drug naloxone via local schools and community organizations because the need is "urgent."
In a report to the county Board of Supervisors, officials with the Department of Health Care Services said the county has provided more than 10,000 kits of naloxone, commonly known as Narcan, since 2017 to law enforcement agencies, businesses, schools and colleges, city governments and partner organizations.
County Executive Dr. Jeff Smith told the board the DHCS still has funding available for Narcan purchase, distribution and training, which the agency will use to fund "whatever was needed."
"At this point, there are funds that are not being utilized yet," Smith said. "And so if we get to a point where we need more, we'll come to the board and ask for an allocation for more. But at this point, that's a need that will be in the future."
Supervisors Cindy Chavez and Joe Simitian bristled at Smith's suggestion that the county is sitting on money that could be used to make Narcan more accessible, arguing that the need to combat opioid overdoses, which have risen since the COVID-19 pandemic began, should be viewed as more urgent.
"It's really a question about how do we properly resource what we see as a pretty urgent need," Chavez said. "And I can't tell ... how those resources are being distributed."
Simitian suggested that some school districts or organizations may have some level of denial about their risk level of opioid addiction and overdose, which could be stalling Narcan dispersal.
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"When you say, 'wouldn't you like to have this resource available?' The reaction is, 'well we don't have a problem'," he said. "And maybe some places don't, but frankly I'm inclined to think that the problem is pretty pervasive.
"The successful distribution of Narcan will depend on acknowledging and managing that denial that I do think is out there," Simitian added.
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