Supervisor Matt Dorsey proposing fines for pharmacies not carrying over-the-counter Narcan
San Francisco continues to battle the fentanyl crisis on multiple fronts, and that could soon include the drug store counter.
Supervisor Matt Dorsey is proposing legislation that would mandate all retail pharmacies stock the opioid overdose-reversing nasal spray, Narcan, for over-the-counter sales.
"I want to make sure that San Franciscans have the assurance of knowing that if they're going to a pharmacy, Narcan is available, and it's going to be available over the counter," he said.
This step comes after the FDA moved to approve Narcan for OTC sales earlier this year, which experts say will greatly expand access to the potentially life-saving drug.
"We want to do everything we can to make sure that we are expanding access to it in a way that is actually mandating that it be available in all San Francisco pharmacies," he said. "When Narcan goes to being an OTC medication that you can get in the same way you might get an antihistamine or Excedrin or pain reliever – it means it's going to be available at the retail level and you can get access to it more quickly."
Dorsey said most, but not all, San Francisco pharmacies already carry the drug.
"There was a secret shopper survey that the Department of Public Health did, and they found that about 20% of pharmacies in San Francisco did not have Narcan available," he said. "When you're in the business of making laws, a penalty for non-compliance is going to be a part of it. I think this is a reasonable step."
David Valencia is the pharmacy manager at Reliable Sunset Wellness, located at 9th and Irving in San Francisco. He's been in the industry for 46 years. He said, while Narcan isn't a common prescription in his neighborhood, he regularly stocks it.
"From a pharmacy standpoint, we carry the product. We have it available for patients, or if we have a patient who is currently on a medication line of an opioid or benzodiazepine and they need to have the Narcan around, they usually get a prescription for it," he said. "I just dispensed three – We also do business with SF's juvenile hall, so I just sent them up there. So, I have more coming in."
He's in favor of making it easier to get Narcan by requiring retail pharmacies to have it available for OTC sales.
"Yeah, it needs to be more readily accessible," he said.
Valencia, however, isn't too keen on the non-compliance penalty component of Dorsey's proposal, as he thinks most pharmacists would want to have Narcan on their shelves.
"It should be available. It should have been available five years ago, but everything moves at a slow pace," he said.
2023 is on track to be the deadliest year for drug overdoses in San Francisco, fueled largely by fentanyl, according to data from the medical examiner's office. Dorsey said expanding Narcan's availability is just one piece of the bigger puzzle.
"I think we're in uncharted waters as policymakers, so we have to do everything we can. This is a problem that is throwing the kitchen sink at us, and we need to throw the kitchen sink back," Dorsey said. "I am trying to go after the drug dealers, and public drug use. I think we need to be making coercive interventions, prosecuting drug dealers – We need to do it all."
Dorsey said the proposal will likely go to committee in the fall. If approved as is, pharmacies that don't comply with the ordinance could face fines between $250 and $1,000 per violation.