Growing number of New York City bars stocking up on opioid overdose rescue kits
NEW YORK -- A growing number of New York City's bars are stocking up on opioid overdose rescue kits.
Officials say the unknown presence of fentanyl in the city's drug supply is causing the number of overdose deaths to rise.
Narcan Behind Every Bar -- it's a city campaign that puts free Narcan, a treatment that reverses the effects of an overdose, in the hands of bar employees.
Inside Lucky Jack's, a bar on the Lower East Side, employees spent time getting trained by the Department of Public Health on how to administer the life-saving medication.
"The fact of the matter is we're a neighborhood bar. We're part of the community. We want to keep our patrons safe," Lucky Jack's owner Meghan Joye said.
Joye says she and other bar owners are stepping up to the plate this year by taking part in providing the help, if need-be, to customers.
"It used to be that fentanyl was found just in heroin, but now it's being found in all sorts of recreational drugs," Joye said.
More people died from drug overdoses in 2021 than in any year since city officials began tracking them more than two decades ago, according to a new report by the New York City Department of Health.
In 2021, there were 2,668 overdose deaths in New York City, compared with 2,103 in 2020.
"We recognize the fentanyl crisis, and at the Office of Nightlife, we see these spaces where people gather as places where people can look out for each other," said Ariel Palitz, senior executive director of the New York City Office of Nightlife.
"It's good that more people are an taking interest ... A few years ago, people would not know what it is," After Hours Project coordinator Elena Rotov said.
The Brooklyn-based harm reduction nonprofit After Hours Project says having nightlife businesses provide Narcan doesn't solve the city's drug issue at its core but provides avenues for safer drug use and saves lives.
"It's really good for just your average, regular New Yorker who may not even know anyone who is actively using opioids to be trained in Narcan because you can see somebody on the streets and act if you want to," Rotov said.
So far, about 1,200 rescue kits have been distributed through the city's nightlife campaign. Both city and health care officials hope to see that number continue to grow.
The city also partners with community groups and pharmacies to give free Narcan to the general public.