Response to interpellation 2025/26:306 on the legislative change to make naloxone accessible
Translated from Swedish by AI; the translation may contain errors. The Swedish text is the original.
Summary AI, written in advance
The debate concerns legislative changes to make naloxone accessible. KD argues that accessibility at pharmacies is an important part of harm reduction work to save lives 1. KD emphasizes that the freedom from prescription for private individuals and relatives is crucial as 82 percent of deaths occur in the home 2. KD explains that legislative changes take time due to existing legislation 2 and emphasizes the importance of information initiatives and an upcoming comorbidity reform 1 3. KD agrees with the dissatisfaction that things take time 4 and argues that the focus lies on saving lives, reducing harm, and providing the best care 4. MP wants the legislative changes to occur quickly 5 and asks when they will be implemented 6 7.
Written by AI in advance and may contain errors. The numbers lead to the speech a statement builds on; check against the text below.
Sjukvårdsministern Elisabet Lann (KD)
Mr. Speaker! Nils Seye Larsen has asked me why the legal change regarding naloxone, which was proposed in the Narcotics Inquiry and is recommended by the National Board of Health and Welfare, has not been implemented and whether I will act to ensure that the legal change is implemented and, if so, when.
I would first like to thank Nils Seye Larsen for an important and pressing question. Reducing injuries and deaths caused by drugs is crucial for saving lives and reducing human suffering. Access to naloxone, which is a medication in the form of a nasal spray that reverses poisonings caused by opioids, is an important part of the harm reduction work regarding opioids and in reducing drug mortality.
The government has initiated several measures to increase the availability of naloxone. The nasal spray has, as Nils Seye Larsen himself points out, since March 2024 been available over the counter at pharmacies. This has increased the availability of naloxone for persons with harmful use and addiction and their relatives.
In March 2025, the government tasked the Medical Products Agency with developing and disseminating knowledge about naloxone to promote safe use (S2025/02132). From the Medical Products Agency's final report on the assignment, it appears that they intend to continue with both information initiatives and distance training aimed at pharmacists at pharmacies on how counseling during the sale of over-the-counter naloxone should proceed. The Medical Products Agency also intends to strengthen its communication work so that updated information about naloxone reaches people in the risk zone for opioid overdose and their relatives.
To reduce overdoses and other drug-related deaths, coordinated work with several interventions is required. Harm reduction measures such as making naloxone available need to be complemented by interventions within care and treatment, early social support measures, and follow-up care after the release of those who have been deprived of liberty. The Government is therefore working broadly with a combination of several different measures to reduce harm and deaths caused by drugs.
In June 2025, the Government tasked nine agencies with developing a joint agency national plan for better addiction care and strengthened prevention work (S2025/01284). Socialstyrelsen and Folkhälsomyndigheten are leading the work, and the plan is to be reported in June 2026. The plan shall include both preventive and harm-reduction measures, which may include interventions to reduce drug-related mortality.
In addition, the government is working to enable a comorbidity reform with the aim that persons with harmful use, addiction, and comorbidity shall receive better and more coherent care and treatment. The government allocates 50 million kronor for 2026 for preparatory measures to support the introduction of this upcoming reform. For 2027–2031, the government intends to allocate 400 million kronor per year to be distributed to regions and municipalities to support their work in implementing the reform.
The government's collective efforts contribute to ensuring that persons with harmful use and addiction receive care and treatment based on need, which is very important to reduce the occurrence of overdoses and prevent deaths caused by drugs. The law proposed in the Narcotics Inquiry's report (SOU 2023:62) is currently being prepared within the Government Offices.
Nils Seye Larsen (MP)
Mr. Speaker! I thank the Minister for the answer to my interpellation.
I want to begin by saying that drugs and substance abuse are a major societal problem in all of Sweden. It has devastating consequences, not only for those who have fallen into addiction but also for relatives, loved ones, and society at large.
I remember a study visit – I have mentioned it previously here in the Riksdag because it touched me – at the needle exchange on Södermalm. We got to meet the invaluable staff who work with helping very vulnerable addicts. We were able to accompany them to where they can hand in used needles and receive new ones. There, they are also introduced to this specific nasal spray, naloxone, which can be crucial for saving lives when someone suffers an overdose.
Something that struck me when we were there was how tough it is for people in a vulnerable situation with long-term substance abuse to move forward and get the help they need to get out of the abuse. People often get stuck at administrative and bureaucratic hurdles and do not get the help they need to reduce their substance abuse problem and perhaps eventually get rid of it.
The drug problem is large, and therefore we must move forward with both the Drug Inquiry and its solid work and the Co-morbidity Delegation and the solutions that are there. Co-morbidity is a large problem and means that drug abuse and mental illness interact.
We must not be limited by ideological blinkers when we work to reduce the drug problem in society. My interpellation concerns a rather specific part of it, namely to provide the opportunity for professional groups who, to a greater extent than others, happen to encounter persons affected by opioid overdoses to carry naloxone in their profession, for example, security guards. This was proposed in a motion from the Liberalerna, which Miljöpartiet thought was good.
There is a will within Region Stockholm to move forward with ensuring that, for example, security guards could carry naloxone with them, but it has been slowed down by the legislation. The National Board of Health and Welfare, among others, has stated that despite the achieved freedom from prescription requirements, they see no possibility of making the naloxone nasal spray available to operations outside of health and medical care without a change in the law. Therefore, my question remains: When can we expect to receive this legislative change, which, for example, would enable the distribution of naloxone to security guards and other personnel who, to a greater extent than others, risk encountering people affected by opioid overdoses?
Sjukvårdsministern Elisabet Lann (KD)
Mr. Speaker! Thank you, once again, to the interpellor, who is asking an incredibly pressing question! I believe we are in agreement in large parts. This is about a type of assistance and medication for an extremely vulnerable group with a high risk of dying. These are people who live very dangerously and have difficulty accessing society's support, just as the interpellor is pointing out.
Sometimes it is a bit too square and bureaucratic in our society. That is where civil society plays an important role by filling the gaps and softening the corners a bit in our sometimes harsh, angular society. There is much to do.
I want to highlight some things regarding mortality. Among those who die as a result of overdose, it is actually 82 percent who do so in their own home or in someone else's home. There are usually no staff groups such as security guards, civil society workers, or volunteers present. That is why the change that the government has made, which has made naloxone available at pharmacies both for people who need it for their own use and for relatives, is the most important.
Connect to that, we also work a lot with information to provide knowledge on how it is used and on the importance of having it available. This work must continue so that naloxone is available where the overdoses occur. It is 82 percent that occur in the home or in someone else's home, and it is important to include that. Relatively few cases occur out in the public among security guards or other groups.
The investigation's proposal does not quite take into account the Act on the Sale of Medicines from 2009. It only allows for the sale of medicines to health and medical care and to consumers, not to organizations, and that is what makes the preparation of the issue take a little longer. It complicates the whole thing. But there is nothing today that prevents private individuals from buying naloxone at pharmacies to be able to use it in emergency situations to save lives. The law enables it today.
I agree that it is not enough, but we see a need to go further. But we must remember that these opportunities exist. The most important thing is, again, that we continue to spread information and knowledge so that those people who risk overdose in the home and their relatives can act quickly and save lives.
Nils Seye Larsen (MP)
Mr. Speaker! What the Minister says is true. I would like to start by thanking the government that we can still buy the nasal spray over the counter. The possibility now exists for people to collect it, and it is a step in the right direction.
It is completely true that the Narcotics Inquiry and some of the proposals that have been submitted are on the edge of today's legislation. This is because a very good analysis has been made of how we need to improve the work regarding what is called harm reduction. We need to look at other existing examples that seem to work around, for example, in Europe.
But as for this specific legislative change, it needs to be implemented. There is a clear desire that we should do everything we can to increase access for people who have an increased risk of encountering people affected by an opioid overdose. We must be able to provide that. The narcotics investigation has pointed out, and the National Board of Health and Welfare pointed out in 2024, that this is something that needs to be changed to provide such an opportunity. This was also emphasized in the Medical Products Agency's response to the communication that the government issued in March 2025.
If Region Stockholm, or another region, wants this as an additional measure to reduce the risk of deaths due to opioid overdose, they must be able to have such an opportunity. This can apply to such professional groups outside of health and medical care who nevertheless have an increased risk of encountering people with an opioid addiction. They need to be able to obtain knowledge and training but also to have naloxone available, as it can be a lifesaver.
It does not only apply in such cases. I am also thinking of proposals regarding consumption rooms, such as those that have reached us through a motion from the Liberals. It has been tested in several other countries, and there, a positive health effect and reduced drug use have been seen here and there. It can be used as an example of harm reduction, but once again, the legislation is hindering the possibility of starting a pilot project.
My questions remain. I wonder, on the one hand, when we can expect to see a legislative change come into place, and on the other hand, when we can see a result and move forward with both the Samsjuklighetsdelegationens and Narkotikautredningens work so that we can truly begin working to combat narcotics. But above all, we need to help addicts get a better life and reduce the risk of a fatal outcome. Hopefully, they can also leave the life of addiction behind them.
Sjukvårdsministern Elisabet Lann (KD)
Mr. Speaker! The issues regarding mental illness primarily fall under another minister. We have a distribution that makes the boundaries not razor-sharp, and it is not obvious who should answer the questions. I therefore do not dare to say anything about timeframes.
Yesterday, however, we reached a decision on a referral to the Council on Legislation for the comorbidity reform. As I indicated in the interpellation response, large-scale investments are planned to implement it. It is a very important task in order to be able to take a broader grip on the issue, something that is needed.
I do not want to diminish the importance of access to naloxone, but I still choose to repeat what I said about that 82 percent of those who die from opioid overdose do so in their own home or in someone else's home, perhaps a friend's. There, the person themselves or possibly a relative is present. The most important thing we can continue to do is therefore to make naloxone available to these people. It concerns relatively few cases where one is out in other contexts and meets other professional groups. I think it is important to include this, and therefore we also have ongoing work to strengthen the information.
The Medical Products Agency submitted its report in December on how they will further strengthen the information work, which has now begun. It is about having clearer information on the website and reaching out in other ways. Socialstyrelsen is also actively working to spread information within healthcare among nurses and ambulance personnel to ensure that naloxone is used where there is a high probability of encountering such a need. It is a very important ongoing work.
Regarding the ongoing preparation, the interpellator knows that I cannot say when we will be finished. Unfortunately, that is how it works. I am the first to sign off on the fact that it is frustrating when it moves slowly.
Partly, it has to do with the government doing very much, and then things take a bit longer sometimes. It can become crowded in our processes when there is a lot that needs to be done at the same time. At the same time, there is a lot that needs to be done. There are great needs, and we are very persistent in getting changes to come about. We see that also in this area, where we work with a very broad palette to reduce the damage of drugs in society.
I intend to return in not too distant a future regarding how we take the matter further. But at the current stage, there is not sufficient basis to proceed with a change, and it needs to be investigated further because a change in another law is required to be able to enable it.
Nils Seye Larsen (MP)
Mr. Speaker! Thank you, Minister, for the answer!
I sincerely hope that this happens as soon as possible. The legislative change enables regions and other actors to be given an even greater chance to save lives. It is my heartfelt plea that we move forward with this and with the legislative changes that are needed to be able to enable, for example, pilot activities such as consumption rooms, and that we try to turn over every stone to reduce the problem of fatal outcomes of substance abuse.
Above all, my great hope on a broader basis is that we can move forward with the Narcotics Investigation's proposals and that ideological blinkers do not risk limiting the measures that could save lives, reduce the harmful effects of abuse, and above all help people to become free from an abuse that is so destructive both for the user, for relatives, and for society as a whole.
I am satisfied with the answer, but I am not entirely satisfied that we have to wait; we are a bit persistent. I would like to conclude by thanking you for this interpellation debate!
Sjukvårdsministern Elisabet Lann (KD)
Mr. Speaker! I would like to once again thank the interpellator for a good debate, if we are to call it that, and an important question. I agree with the dissatisfaction that things take time. We share the impatience in this matter.
I also want to take this opportunity to emphasize that it is not ideological blinkers that stand in the way of us moving forward in such a matter. The focus in this work is the individual's best interest and to save lives and reduce harm. There is not always a single obvious way forward, but there are several scales to consider.
It is about reducing the risks for people of falling into addiction from the very beginning and at the same time providing the best possible care and protection for those who have ended up there due to various unfortunate circumstances. There should be no doubt that it is consideration for the individual that guides this work.
Thank you very much for a good debate!
Source: The Swedish Parliament. The speeches come from the open data of the Riksdag, translated into English by AI, which may contain errors.