Why is it free?

Heroin addicts now have available a quick antidote to an overdose. It's sort of like an epi-pen, but it squirts naloxone up the nose. If I had a heroin addict in the family, I'd probably make sure I had some of those on hand. 

What I don't understand is why these pens are being distributed for free. People with chronic diseases they didn't initiate don't get free drugs. Supporters of the program claim that such giveaways have saved more than 10,000 lives. Maybe so, but can't they pay for them? I daresay that insulin has saved a lot more lives than that, but most diabetics don't get it for free. Linda Wohlen, who used one of the OD pens on her son says, "I just didn't want to be that mother standing next to that casket." I understand that. So isn't it important enough that you'd buy them if they weren't giving them to you? Why is it my responsibility to pay for them for you?

Hilary Jacobs, deputy director of the Bureau of Substance Abuse Services in Massachusetts, said, "If you've ever talked to a parent who watched their kid overdose, you wouldn't wonder why we are doing this [the distribution program]." Well, Hilary, I don't wonder why you're doing it, I wonder why you're doing it for free. If an addict can afford heroin, surely he can afford the antidote as well.

"Addicts get dose of help with free antidote." The Dallas Morning News; April 27, 2012; p. 9A.