Victoria’s frontline police officers have been told they are not allowed to carry a free, life-saving overdose-reversal drug over fears they could be open to civil and criminal prosecution if they administer it on the job.
That is despite average Australians being able to administer the same drug to others without a prescription under a federal government initiative seeking to encourage peer-to-peer use to prevent opioid-related deaths.
Nyxoid is a brand of naloxone that is a nasal spray that blocks or reverses the effects of opioid drugs.Credit: AP
Opioids are the most common drug detected in unintentional fatal overdoses in Australia, and kill an average of two Australians every day, according to figures from the Penington Institute. In Victoria alone, 547 people died from an opioid-related overdose in 2023, the latest available coronial data shows.
The over-the-counter drug, naloxone, reverses the effects of an opioid overdose in minutes by blocking the opioid receptors in the brain so that they can no longer interact with the substance that’s causing the overdose. Described as a “silver bullet” by experts, naloxone has minimal side effects and does not cause any harm if it is administered to someone who hasn’t taken opioids.
It can come in nasal spray, pre-filled syringe or ampoule form, and it can be obtained from most pharmacies free of charge without a prescription under the federal government’s $19.6 million Take Home Naloxone program. The medication has been safely used by health workers for decades.
However, despite often being first at the scene of an overdose and being trained to deliver life-saving first aid such as chest compressions, Victorian police officers aren’t allowed to independently administer naloxone to people experiencing an opioid overdose. Instead, they are expected to wait for ambulance staff, potentially delaying the administration of the drug.
Victoria Police is concerned its officers would not be covered by insurance if something went wrong while administering naloxone – such as if the person overdosing had an adverse reaction to the drug – leaving them open to court action. Members of the public who administer the drug are legally protected under the good Samaritan legislation.
Opioids such as heroin cause a person to overdose slowly over a period of about 25 minutes, giving first responders time to intervene. However, novel, highly potent synthetic opioids, such as nitazenes and fentanyl, are absorbed by the brain much faster, drastically reducing the window to administer a reversal drug to just a few minutes.
Adam Wilson, a lawyer for the Fitzroy Legal Service who specialises in criminal law and drug outreach, said that as first responders, police officers should be trained and equipped to provide the medication.
“Police are already trained in CPR or other emergency first aid. Naloxone is a critical first aid tool that is already available over the counter in Australia, and has next to no adverse effects,” he said.
Wilson said Victoria Police should actively join harm-reduction efforts, such as pill testing, more safe drug consumption sites, and increased naloxone availability, including through vending machines.
“Every life is sacred,” Wilson said.
Victoria’s position stands in contrast with other Australian jurisdictions, which have incorporated the nasal spray into police kits or expressed interest in doing so in recent years.
Police officers in Western Australia became the first in the country to be kitted out with naloxone in 2021 under a year-long state government trial to bolster their ability to deliver urgent care.
The trial also aimed to protect frontline officers exposed to highly toxic opioids such as fentanyl, which can be unintentionally inhaled or absorbed through the skin on the job (for example, during a police raid).
During the trial, police used the nasal spray to reverse overdoses on 20 people in the Perth and Bunbury areas. More than 500 officers have now been trained in how to administer it.
Queensland announced it would be following suit in 2024 by adding the nasal spray to officers’ tactical first aid kits. NSW is in the process of researching the possibility of rolling out a similar program, and South Australia has also previously expressed interest in equipping its officers with the drug.
Victoria Police confirmed officers did not carry naloxone.
“And there are no plans to change this,” a spokesperson said.
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