California plans to spend more on Narcan, but it could lose workers who hand it out

Gov. Gavin Newsom wants to spend hundreds of millions of dollars in the next four years to provide Narcan, the nasal spray with naloxone that can yank someone out of an opioid overdose, to combat the deadly rise of fentanyl in California.

But many community groups that routinely hand out the lifesaving medication fear their workers could soon be facing layoffs, with the disappearance of a key grant that helped pay for day-to-day expenses at "harm reduction" organizations across the state.

If that grant money goes away, "we're dead," said Tom Ewing, executive director of the Sierra Harm Reduction Coalition in El Dorado County.