Newtown Residents Launch Citizens Group To Get Narcan In Hands Of Borough Police

Three concerned Newtown Borough residents have formed a group aimed at getting Narcan into the hands of local police.

The group, started by Bernie Sauer, Laure Esposito Gensbauer and Dave Newnam, is "tired of waiting for their local government to do what’s right in the fight to combat opioid overdoses, and they’re taking action," according to an announcement released Thursday.

The citizen's group — “Newtown Area Residents CAN Save Lives” (NarCAN) – hopes to convince the mayor and the police department to begin using the Narcan drug to help save lives in cases of opioid overdoses.

The Newtown Borough Council has announced it will hold a meeting on Wednesday, Feb. 8 at 5:30 p.m. at Borough Hall to discuss the possible use of the live saving drug.

NarCAN says it is encouraging residents to attend and make their voice heard. They have created a Facebook page for residents to stay up to date on the effort.

Newtown Borough is one of only two municipalities in Bucks County where police do not have Narcan. Newtown Borough Police Chief has said he opposes carrying the drug, according to the Bucks County District Attorney, who has made an appeal to the local government to supply the drug to local police.

Step one in their fight: taking to Facebook to help get the word out to local residents and build support. In just a few days and without promotion, the page has already garnered nearly 100 likes.

“The fact that our Mayor, who heads the police department, and our police department continue to oppose the use of Narcan when it has proven to be effective in saving lives is simply unconscionable,” Sauer said in a statement. “This can’t be a law enforcement issue when almost every other municipality and police department in the county is using this life saving drug, so there must be something else. No matter what the reason, it’s far past time for our mayor and police department to stand with residents on this important issue.”

The group founders say opioids are destroying communities and costing lives that could be saved. “Losing a life – here in Newtown or anywhere – when we have the resources and technology to save it is simply wrong,” Gensbauer said.

The group says it hopes it can get results before it's too late.

“We hope it doesn’t take the senseless death of a local resident to spur our leaders to action. Opioids don’t care who you are and they sure don’t care what political party you are from. It’s time for local residents to come together with one voice and demand action; that’s why we started this group,” Sauer said.