I recommend watching Juno’s entire playlist on naloxone harm reduction. they’re a harm reduction educator and substance user and they have more intimate knowledge than the sterile pamphlets that medical institutions put out.

people often get agitated because you’re forcing them into acute opioid withdrawal by administering too much naloxone. the nasal type that most civilians have access to contains 4 mg vs the 0.4 mg intramuscular that EMS workers administer. this comes out to a 5 times higher dose than strictly necessary. source:

Based on a relative bioavailability of 50%, an initial 2 mg Naloxone Hydrochloride Nasal Spray dose would be considered equivalent to 1 mg IM dose and a 4 mg Naloxone Hydrochloride Nasal Spray dose would be equivalent to 2 mg IM dose, which corresponds with the maximum recommended initial dose in adult clinical guidelines.

I can’t say there’s an easy alternative but anyone who’s able should contact harm reduction orgs to get trained in administering intramuscular naloxone. nasal works too, but be mindful that the person you’re “helping” is gonna have probably the worst day of their life.

people should also be aware there’s a lot of seemingly helpful information out there influenced by copaganda warning civilians that substance users are dangerous/violent and to stay away/call the cops. this is a fucked up way to do harm reduction and really dehumanizing to substance users.

edit: replaced precipitated withdrawal with acute opioid withdrawal.