The Cypress Health Region is partnering with the Ministry of Health to make naloxone kits available for free, and a pharmacist and member of Swift Current's Drug Strategy Action Committee thinks it's a great move.

Come Tuesday, people at risk of opioid overdose will be able to obtain naloxone through the public health system as well as get training on how it is administered.

For Erin Read, it seems moves like this are positive steps in mitigating the harm that comes with drug use.

"I think it's a good tool for the public to have access to for sure," Read said. "As a healthcare professional, we obviously want to protect and save as many people as we can. We still want them to reach out to other resources too, so not just use that as their sole back-up plan. We would want them to reach out to harm reduction plans also, for example the methadone program or the suboxone program through a physician, or addictions counselling."

It's huge to be able to prevent deaths through naxolone, but education and treatment are also crucial in prevention and recovery.

Read also said a safe injection site would be good for healthcare in southwest Saskatchewan.

There are none in the province (which has the highest HIV rate of the provinces). But at places like Vancouver's, they not only provides clean needles and staff to assist someone if they overdose, they also facilitate more access to rehabilitative services.

"You want everybody to just be safe," said Read. "If you're not injecting safely, then that increases the cost to the healthcare system because they're probably going to contract hepatitis 'C' and from a healthcare standpoint, those drugs are really, really expensive. So if you can provide any tools to these people to help them do it safely, I guess you're decreasing potential costs in the future for those types of things, from a healthcare standpoint."

"Addictions is linked through mental health - a lot of these patients have other issues," she added. "If you can provide a safe environment for them, then that's a good thing."

While Read and other pharmacists do see people taking part in methadone and suboxone maintenance programs in the area, she said many people struggling with addictions lack a good support system.