Valerie Farester of Cabot watched a brief video Thursday featuring the state's secretary of health demonstrate how to use a nasal application of naloxone, the opioid reversal drug, commonly known as Narcan.

“With these simple steps, you can save someone's life,” Dr. Rachel Levine concludes in the minute-long video.

Workers at the state health center at 100 Brugh Ave. set the video up to be watched by people who dropped by to pick up free samples of the drug. And with that, Farester, who is a social worker, was given two doses of Narcan, each containing two milligrams.

She said she planned to keep it in her car in case a need arises while she's out.

“In my profession, I need to be prepared for anything,” she said. “It's a great way to combat overdose situations and, hopefully, help people get treatment afterward. I think it's going to save lives.”

The naloxone giveaway is part of a statewide initiative by Gov. Tom Wolf to make the drug more readily available to those in need.

By 3 p.m. Thursday, the health center had run out of naloxone, according to information collected by the state's health department. The exact number of kits that were given away in the county wasn't immediately available, but statewide, there were 4,500 boxes distributed throughout the day.

“The life-saving medication naloxone is essential for all of us to have on hand, particularly if you have a loved one suffering from opioid-use disorder,” Wolf said in a news release. “We want to ensure that through this opportunity for free naloxone, we can save more lives and get more Pennsylvanians into treatment. Keeping naloxone in your home, work or even in your car can make the difference between someone getting into treatment or dying from this disease.”

Butler's health center was one of about 80 locations across Pennsylvania, primarily at state health centers and county/municipal health departments, that distributed the drug Thursday.

The naloxone giveaway has stirred controversy and debates in the county about the use of the drug, according to Jason Beckwith and Melissa Coblentz, both of whom work with the Southwestern Pennsylvania Human Services and are drug recovery specialists.

“I think it's a good step and it's stirred up some emotions, but it's good to get something like this going and causing people to think,” Beckwith said. “But what Narcan is not is treatment. So, this is a small portion of a collective recovery.”

Beckwith and Coblentz noted that just because someone is given a shot of naloxone — possibly saving them from death — it doesn't mean that the person will stop using drugs.

“Addiction doesn't go away with a shot of Narcan,” Beckwith said. “That's where treatment, community compassion comes in.”

Beckwith has heard several arguments against giving naloxone away for free. He has heard people say that it enables drug use, that so called “Narcan parties” take place where one designated person is in charge of administering the drug to people who overdose and that those who get the drug for free will, in turn, sell it on the street.

“There are no such things as Narcan parties,” Beckwith said Thursday at the health center. “I've heard this several times. I don't know where this bit of folklore came from. Having been someone on the other side of the fence, I know that having naloxone given to you is a horrible experience.”

He said the idea that someone would use heroin with the thought of using naloxone as a backup doesn't make sense.

“Economically, it's hard to come up with the money to get high. Now, you're going to throw it away” by using naloxone, he said. Being brought back by Narcan, is more likely to make you angry, he said.

“It's going to save your life, but it's not utopia,” Beckwith said. “People aren't signing up to take it.”

Coblentz added, “When you're in the realm and warps of addiction, naloxone isn't part of your daily life. It's not part of your routine.”

She said that naloxone being available has “stirred up a lot of chaos about who deserves it, but this isn't an us against them thing. We all deserve this medicine.”

Since November 2014, according to Wolf's news release, more than 20,000 people have been revived using naloxone by police officers and EMS providers in Pennsylvania.

In addition to being able to get naloxone for free Thursday, a spokesman for the state noted that the drug is available at most pharmacies year-round. Naloxone also is available to many state residents with public and private insurance at pharmacies for free or at a low cost.