The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is making strides to combat the opioid epidemic.
On Wednesday, the FDA announced Narcan — the brand name for the drug naloxone will be accessible over-the-counter.
Narcan is a nasal spray which can reverse a overdose on Fentanyl and opioid-related substances.
Ronnie Hidalgo is a mother to three children and the owner of Ray's Grocery Plus in Opelousas. She said using one drug to combat the side-effects of another drug does not necessarily treat the underlying problem — addiction.
"There needs to be some sort of attachment to it so it's not just normalizing drug use," Hidalgo said.
According to the National Institutes of Health, research shows teens from single-parent households are more likely to engage in drug and alcohol use.
"We need two-parent households," Hidalgo said. "We need families eating dinner together and I promise you that will fix so many of our problems if we can get families back together, this drug use will not be an issue, test scores will not be an issue...there will be some, but the issues that we're having today all stem from the lack of family."
Carl Savoie has been the Chief Pharmacist and owner of Carl's Thrifty Way Pharmacy since 1976. He said this new decision will help save lifes, especially those who abuse Fentanyl.
"It [Fentanyl] decreases respiration," Savoie said. "They stop breathing and they die from that. They just lose consciousness and they're gone."
Savoie said he usually keep just a few boxes of Narcan on hand, but now he plans to increase his supply.
"Until now it was on prescriptin so we only kept three or fur at a time," Savoie said. "But, if it goes over-the-counter like it is, we'll have to keep more of it, I would assume."
