A Tijuana harm-reduction nonprofit is calling on Baja California’s federal and state legislators to legalize free access to naloxone, the drug that can reverse a fentanyl overdose in as little as five minutes. PrevenCasa A.C., which operates in the city’s Zona Norte district, held a press conference Thursday at its offices to draw attention to a legal barrier that keeps the medication classified as a controlled psychotropic substance under Mexico’s General Health Law. Between 2022 and 2023, PrevenCasa recorded more than 900 fentanyl overdoses in its service area alone.
Naloxone Is Over the Counter in the U.S. but Controlled in Mexico
The gap between the two countries’ approach to naloxone is stark. In the United States, the FDA approved over-the-counter sales of Narcan (naloxone nasal spray) in March 2023. Pharmacies in California, Arizona, and across the country sell it without a prescription. Canada likewise allows pharmacies to dispense naloxone without a prescription in every province. Many U.S. residents who cross into Tijuana regularly carry naloxone in their bags or cars as a routine precaution.
In Mexico, the same drug sits on the list of controlled psychotropic substances in the General Health Law. That classification means emergency workers, families, and bystanders cannot legally obtain or carry it without navigating prescription requirements. PrevenCasa director Lilia Pacheco Bufanda said the restriction costs lives every week in Zona Norte, where fentanyl use is concentrated among people living on the street.
“Naloxone saves lives. It is safe, effective, and does not create dependence,” Pacheco Bufanda said Thursday. “It has no potential for abuse. It is literally the difference between life and death, and in our country, access remains limited.”
Dr. Enrique Muñoz, PrevenCasa’s staff physician, said hospitals and clinics with immediate access to naloxone can reverse an overdose within five minutes. Without it, the window for survival closes fast. Fentanyl depresses breathing far more rapidly than heroin or other opioids, so each minute of delay raises the risk of brain damage or death.
Morena Legislators Have Refused to Meet With PrevenCasa
PrevenCasa has tried to engage both state and federal lawmakers from Morena, the ruling party in Baja California and at the federal level. Pacheco Bufanda said state legislators in the Baja California Congress have declined to take meetings on the issue. At the federal level, the group attempted to reach Fernando Castro Trenti, a Baja California member of the Health Commission in Mexico’s LXVI federal legislature. “We have tried to approach him, but we have not succeeded,” Pacheco Bufanda said.
The legislative stalemate exists despite local momentum. The Tijuana city government signed a cooperation agreement with PrevenCasa in April 2026 to strengthen services for people with addictions. Baja California Governor Marina del Pilar Ávila Olmeda has publicly acknowledged the overdose crisis in the state. But neither the governor nor the city can change the drug’s federal classification. Only a reform to the General Health Law, passed by Mexico’s Congress, can move naloxone off the controlled-substance list.
On Wednesday, one day before the press conference, PrevenCasa joined two partner organizations, Integración Social Verter and Programa Compañeros, in issuing a joint statement. The three groups called on senators from all political parties to reform the law and stop criminalizing people who use naloxone to save lives.
PrevenCasa Has Trained Tijuana Police and Nightclub Staff
While the federal law remains unchanged, PrevenCasa has worked around the edges. The nonprofit has conducted training sessions and distributed naloxone doses to municipal police officers assigned to Tijuana’s Centro delegation, the district that includes Zona Norte. Officers in that area regularly encounter people in the midst of overdoses on sidewalks and in alleyways near Calle Coahuila.
PrevenCasa has also run workshops in Tijuana nightclubs, where recreational drug use sometimes leads to accidental fentanyl exposure. Counterfeit pills sold as oxycodone or Xanax frequently contain fentanyl, and users may not know what they have taken. A bystander with naloxone and basic training can keep someone breathing until paramedics arrive.
The organization has operated in Zona Norte for years, but its federal funding was cut in 2018 when the government redirected support away from civil society groups and toward its own anti-drug programs. Since then, PrevenCasa has relied on donations and international partnerships to continue its work.
If you walk through Zona Norte on any given evening, you will see the crisis PrevenCasa is responding to: people slumped on sidewalks, blue-lipped, barely breathing. In that moment, a $45 nasal spray can mean survival. North of the border, anyone can buy one at CVS. South of it, the law says you need a prescription for the same product.
PrevenCasa and its partner organizations plan to continue pressing for a meeting with federal legislators during the current congressional session. The Tijuana city cooperation agreement signed in April is scheduled for its first review later this year. This story was first reported by Punto Norte.