Naloxone kits – containing a life-saving medication that can temporarily stop or reverse the effects of an opioid overdose – have been available for free in Hay River since January.
But Julianne Fuller, a pharmacist at Ring's Pharmacy, believes not enough people are getting them.
Since January, just 53 kits have been requested from Ring's Pharmacy.
"Every parent of a teenager should have a kit," Fuller said.
She believes young people are the most vulnerable because they may not understand the risks of using illegal drugs that might contain fentanyl, which is a particularly dangerous opioid, or they may know someone who uses illegal drugs.
"The danger of fentanyl is because it is so toxic in such small quantities, and because they're finding that fentanyl is being used as a contaminant in other drugs," Fuller explained, adding it would take a very small amount of fentanyl to kill a person.
The pharmacist said drug traffickers sometimes add fentanyl to drugs, such as cocaine and heroin, because it is highly addictive.
Plus, she noted it is 100 times stronger than morphine.
"So for illicit drug users who are looking for that reaction, fentanyl in small quantities is very addictive and you can become addicted to it very quickly," she said. "So you will be looking to repeat that effect. But for someone who is opioid naive or who has not had that substance in their body, it is very dangerous."
On the other hand, Fuller said naloxone is a very safe drug that has been used for 40 years.
"Naloxone is a very simple treatment," she said.
In fact, the naloxone kits don't require a prescription and Fuller said it is so safe that she would give one to a teenager.
"We wouldn't obviously provide it if we didn't think that they were going to be trained properly on it or be able to effectively use it," she said. "Then we would recommend that their parent come in with them."
Fuller said she would actually commend teenagers for getting the kits, and would even go into the community to train groups of teenagers on how to use them.
The pharmacist provides a 10-minute lesson on the proper use of a naloxone kit to anyone requesting one.
"It's very easy. It's very simple," she said.
In June, the GNWT also released a video called “How to Use a Naloxone Kit.” That video is part of a larger campaign launched across the NWT after a string of opioid-related overdoses in November of 2016.
The free naloxone kits are part of that program by the GNWT.
Fuller's lesson will tell people how to recognize an opioid overdose.
"Somebody who has been doing cocaine, if it is laced with fentanyl, is going to fall asleep. Their breathing is going to slow. They're going to become less conscious. Their nails and lips may go blue because they're being deprived of oxygen is what's happening," she explained, adding they may also make a gurgling sound. "And you can't wake them up. The biggest opioid symptom is their pupils will constrict to pinpoint. And that's how you know you have an opioid overdose."
Opioids are a family of drugs that include fentanyl, heroin, morphine, codeine and oxycodone.
Cocaine is not an opioid, so naloxone is not a treatment for a cocaine overdose.
Naloxone kits are available for free at hospitals, health centres and pharmacies around the NWT.
Along with Ring's Pharmacy, they are available in Hay River at Public Health and the Hay River Regional Health Centre.
Fuller said the kits are promoted to the public in various ways, including by posters.
"But people don't know about them enough, yet," she said.
In 2016, there were almost 3,000 opioid-related deaths in Canada, with the greatest area at risk being Western Canada.