Narcan vending machines target opioid overdose crisis – By Joann Muller (Axios) / January 11, 2022
Free vending machines are popping up around the country to dispense doses of Narcan, or naloxone, a drug that can quickly reverse the effects of an opioid overdose.
Why it matters: Drug overdose deaths have soared in the U.S. during the COVID pandemic, creating a second public health crisis. More than 87,000 Americans died of opioid overdoses over the 12-month period that ended in September, according to preliminary federal data.
- That’s more than any year since the opioid epidemic began in the 1990s, the New York Times reports.
Driving the news: New York City plans to install 10 public health vending machines that would dispense free Narcan and other “harm reduction” supplies in neighborhoods that have been hit hard by drug overdoses, according to the Times.
