Talk to addicts about Narcan, and it's easy to believe in ghosts.

Dwayne Gallegos, 21, who is in drug treatment, remembers being with a friend who overdosed, "and he went out, he wasn't breathing."

Gallegos has not only used Narcan on others, but he was once revived by the drug himself. "It was lifesaving," said Gallegos, recently married and now part of the Inside Out program that helps addicts curb heroin use with Suboxone.

Most addicts know when they are more likely to overdose — when they are high and want to get higher; when they haven't used in a while; when there is a new supplier, a new batch; or when they are mixing heroin with alcohol or other drugs.

It's no wonder users who gathered recently to hear about Narcan were eager to hear how the vial of liquid can be sprayed into the nose membrane, block opiates and stop an overdose — at least temporarily.

"Narcan will take opiates away from the receptors in the brain. They will start breathing again," public-health nurse Jeanne Block told them recently.

Since 2001, there have been more than 800 overdose reversals documented from the 2,300 times Narcan was used in New Mexico.

"We have no way of knowing which ones are fatal," said Dominick V. Zurlo, the Harm Reduction Program manager for the state Department of Health.

Narcan, a trademark of the drug naloxone, was first used in hospitals to restore functions after surgery. It was available only by injection, so use was primarily by paramedics and emergency workers. The nasal injection became more widely available in 2007, and users have increased — with more than 1,400 new enrollees in New Mexico last year.

Some 50 Narcan programs are operating in the United States, according to an article in the American Journal of Public Health. Chicago documented nearly 1,000 overdose reversals since 2001, and the state of Massachusetts announced in February that it had recorded its 500th reversal as part of a two-year pilot Narcan program. A Johns Hopkins study concludes 100 deaths were prevented in New York and Baltimore in one year with Narcan.

In New Mexico, the slight documentation comes from users who are asked some quick survey questions when they return for a refill — how it was used and on whom, the dosage, whether rescue breathing was also done, if 911 was called.

"That's the only time we know what has happened, when they come back to us and say, 'I need more Narcan,' " Zurlo said.

New Mexico was among the first states to streamline Narcan training. There used to be a three-hour class in addiction and overdose prevention for addicts or a family member. Now they can learn to use Narcan in three minutes.

"We're at the forefront of this nationally," Zurlo said.

Narcon is not illegal to carry, and many family members who do not use drugs want Narcan on hand to help loved ones. But a confidential prescription must be filled with the recipient's name at the state Health Department pharmacy to dispense it.

WHERE TO GET NARCAN

The state Health Department provides Narcan, clean needles and other Harm Reduction services at the following locations:

Santa Fe Community Services, 802 Early St., 8 a.m. to noon, Monday through Friday

Santa Fe Public Health Office, 605 Letrado, all week as needed

Española Public Health Office, 30 County Road 8

El Centro Family Health, 620 Coronado St., Española

Las Vegas Public Health Office, 18 Gallegos Road

Taos Public Health, 1400 Weimer Road

For a complete list of providers, go to nmhealth.org and, under "prevention programs" on the right side of the screen, scroll to "Harm Reduction."