First-of-its-Kind 24/7 Narcan Stand Debuts in Michigan Soup Kitchen

A soup kitchen in Saginaw County, Michigan, has launched a 24/7 Narcan stand, providing residents with easy access to the life-saving nasal spray capable of reversing opioid overdoses within minutes, according to a report by WNEM.

The stand, stationed at East Side Soup Kitchen, is a first for the county. It adds to a growing list of initiatives nationwide that provide the public with free Narcan.

In April, the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Office announced plans to expand its Narcan program. The expansion includes offering doses in the lobby of each of its stations and classes on how to administer the drug, according to KEYT-TV.

This month, a Narcan vending machine was installed in Brooklyn's Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood. The machine, which also dispenses fentanyl test strips, hygiene kits, and safe sex kits, only requires a user's zip code for access. This machine's installation cost the city about $11,000, reported WABC.

Dr. Ashwin Vasan, commissioner of the city's Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, told the outlet, "If that saves a life, the moral cost, the economic cost of someone going to the hospital for treatment, it just makes perfect sense." He added, "Every three hours, we're losing a New Yorker."

Joining New York, counties in California and Florida have recently invested in Narcan vending machines. These machines are supplied by companies that typically distribute arcade games and pinball machines.

East Side Soup Kitchen, along with its partner, TEN16 Recovery Network, aims to lower the rate of opioid-related deaths in Michigan. These deaths have increased ten-fold since 2000, according to WNEM. Over 80,400 people died from opioid overdoses in the U.S. in 2021 alone.

In a bid to make Narcan more accessible to the public, the Federal Drug Administration approved naloxone, its generic version, for over-the-counter sales in March. A study published in 2017 confirmed that naloxone is highly effective, reversing 93% of overdoses.

Emergent BioSolutions, the company behind the spray, plans to sell two-dose packs of the drug at pharmacies for under $50, NBC reported in April.