Uptick in use of free Narcan stations in Oakland County
WEST BLOOMFIELD, Mich. (CBS DETROIT) – CBS News Detroit has been following the "Alliance of Coalitions for Healthy Communities," an organization that's distributed dozens of "Save a Life" stations with free Narcan and other resources across Oakland County.
Reporter Alysia Burgio caught up with the crew from this nonprofit to see if any of these tools have been used. What they found might surprise you.
"We didn't really realize the need from people to access these tools and the demand for them," said Steve Norris, director of harm reduction & recovery support for the organization.
With nearly 30 boxes filled with free Narcan and other resources spread out in high-risk areas across Oakland County, Norris says in some locations, like Hope Shelter in Pontiac, materials went quickly.
"This is probably one of our fastest-depleting units. We ran out of inventory within 24 hours. We're restocking every few days," Norris said.
At a nearby gas station where the second-most depleted box in the Pontiac area sits, what we discovered was shocking.
"As you can see, people are already pulling out Narcan right out of the box. Packages are open. This is the pack that Narcan comes in. I guess they needed it in a hurry. This was filled yesterday as a matter of fact, so looks like we're down 20 units," said Norris.
Alysia: "Does it surprise you to see how fast this Narcan is going?"
Steve: "It does surprise me, and it doesn't surprise me, all at the same time. What we now know on the acceleration of what's being distributed out in the community with relationships to drugs … it's scary. I mean, that's the truth. With the mixture of Xylazine and Fentanyl, we keep escalating as we keep putting pressure on getting certain substances off the street. It created a certain vacuum for other substances," Norris said.
Back in West Bloomfield at the township hall, the resources were barely touched.
"It looks to me like the important thing in this community right now is the charcoal neutralizer for prescription pills. The nasal Narcan hasn't been used much in this community," said Norris.
Norris says after seeing this rapid response in certain areas only one week after these stations became available, it's clear there's a bigger problem with substance abuse than initially thought.
"Are we helping or are we harming? The truth is here is what Narcan does is it enables breath, and without breath, there's no hope. Honestly without that hope, people don't have the chance to actually recover," Norris said
As for what's next, Norris says community outreach, education and hopefully even more of these stations.
"We've reached a massive amount of people. We just haven't reached enough yet," said Norris.
Alysia: "Saving a life, that's the goal here."
Steve: "That's the goal."