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Availability of take-home naloxone (THN) to increase opioid use

Summary of the evidence

Rating
  • Evidence of ineffectiveness

Take home naloxone (THN) programs have been rapidly upscaled in response to increasing opioid-related mortality. One often cited concern is that naloxone provision could be associated with increased opioid use, due to the availability of naloxone to reverse opioid overdose.

A narrative systematic review (Tse et al., 2022, studies =7 - two quasi-experimental studies and five cohort studies, N= 2 578) investigated whether THN provision is associated with changes in substance use by participants enrolled in THN programs and found:

  • no evidence that THN provision was associated with increased opioid use or overdose. 

Details

Note: this evidence summary is only valid for the outcomes, target groups, settings and substances/patterns of use described below.

Name of response option
  • Naloxone administration
Area(s)
  • Harm reduction
Specific substance or pattern of use
  • opioids
Target group(s) or setting(s)
  • PWID – people who inject drugs

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