NEW JERSEY (KYW Newsradio) — The River Line and other New Jersey light rails could soon be equipped with Narcan as part of a two-year pilot program to study how effective the approach is at saving lives.
The goal is to reduce overdose deaths. Bill sponsor, state Sen. Troy Singleton, said it is a pretty straightforward idea that doesn’t cost a lot of money to implement.
“Puts life-saving medication closer to the person who may need it, alerts the train operator when the medication is accessed, and gets emergency services moving,” he said.
Singleton said this isn’t meant to promote drug use on trains, and he doesn’t think the availability of Narcan will encourage people to do so.
“It’s designed, frankly, to put a proven emergency response tool where it may be needed and then utilize the data that we could collect from this to determine whether the program warrants expansion.”
With approval from the Senate Transportation Committee, the bill now advances toward a full vote.
