Subject line:  Naloxone Access Bill, SB848 / HB1449

 

Dear {delegate/senator} {last name},

 

My name is {your name}, and I am a {family member, trainer, person in recovery, etc} who resides in your district.  {include brief personal story/connection to opioid overdose if you have one}

 

Opioid overdose is now the number one cause of accidental death in Virginia, taking more lives than car accidents.  To stop this tide of death, we must increase public access to the opioid overdose antidote, naloxone.  Naloxone, aka Narcan, is an extremely safe medication that has saved many thousands of people from overdose death. The problem is, most of the people who need it don't have it.

 

Pharmacies may now dispense naloxone without a prescription, but logistical, financial, and stigma-related reasons keep some of the most at-risk individuals from getting it there, and many pharmacies do not carry it.  That is why I urge you to support the Naloxone Access Bill, SB848 / HB1449, which would greatly increase the availability of this medication for the people who need it most by allowing state certified overdose reversal instructors to give it out at their trainings in the community – and save more lives.

 

Sincerely,

{Your name}

{your address} <- so they know you are a constituent