Free Narcan Vending Machines Popping Up Around Michigan

DETROIT, June 8, 2022 ~ Vending machines distributing the opioid-overdose-reversing-drug Narcan are being installed in strategic locations in an effort to reduce the number of overdoses in Michigan, and throughout the country.

Wayne State University‘s Center for Behavioral Health and Justice has used grant money to place 15 vending machines across the state, in places like county jails, centers that provide services for drug users, and the university’s undergraduate library.

“You could administer Narcan, and if you are wrong [and the person is not overdosing] there is no harm to the individual,” said Wayne State University Center for Behavioral Health and Justice Program Manager Matthew Costello to 760 WJR‘s Paul W. Smith.

Jails are seen as important locations, as research shows that drug users leaving incarceration are at higher risks of overdose. After a reduced tolerance from being without drugs while behind bars, many continue using at the same dose they did before incarceration, and their bodies cannot handle the drug as it did before.

Listen below as Paul W. Smith hears directly from Wayne State University Center for Behavioral Health and Justice Program Manager Matthew Costello, as well as 760 WJR Senior News Analyst Marie Osborne, on what benefits the machines have for the community.