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.