Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Thursday, 19 September 2024

Committee on Drugs Use

Decriminalisation, Depenalisation, Diversion and Legalisation of Drugs: Discussion (Resumed)

9:30 am

Dr. Des Crowley:

Suboxone is a partial agonist but it has an effect on the user in that it is a psychoactive substance. Naloxone is an antagonist, that is, it does nothing, except in the place where you have taken it. It takes that area off the receptor in the brain and the effect of the agonist is totally gone, while the antagonist remains on the receptor in the brain.