Narcan vending machine opens in Morgantown
MORGANTOWN, W. Va. (KDKA) -- A social services center in Morgantown is the site of the first Narcan vending machine in the area.
Narcan is a nasal spray that can rapidly reverse an opioid overdose. Anyone can walk into Hope Hill Sobering Center and ask for Narcan.
The vending machine is located in the main lobby and it's as simple as getting a bag of chips out of a snack machine too, except it's free. After filling out some paperwork, select a number and out comes the life-saving medication.
"We believe it should be in every medicine cabinet and every first aid kit."
The executive director of West Virginia Sober Living knew from personal experience why he needed a Narcan vending machine in the Hope Hill Sobering Center located inside Hazel's House of Hope, a social services center in Morgantown.
Jon Dower struggled with his own substance abuse issues and is now proud to be able to help other addicts see that recovery is possible.
"We're dealing with a very serious epidemic inside of our country, and it's not just one of substance misuse. The etiology or root causes of addiction can't even be agreed upon at this point," Dower said.
Dower regards Narcan as something of a miracle drug. He says a spray can reverse an overdose so fast the person is sometimes unaware of how close they came to dying.
On average, he says it takes up to 10 minutes for paramedics to reach someone overdosing and even longer in rural areas. Making it more readily available, he says, will only save more lives.
"The idea of placing it here was to have it near the target population that we serve."
"To have it where you have access and privacy to get to the machine."
But critics of the Narcan vending machine say it only enables addicts to continue doing deadly drugs if they know they have a safety net.
"And my response to that would be, 'Do you wait until there's a fire in your kitchen to go buy a fire extinguisher or do you have a fire extinguisher in your kitchen in case there's a fire?'"
Elizabeth Farr is living proof. She was administered Narcan three times. She admits if the life-saving drug wasn't available when she needed it, she wouldn't be here today.
"We're definitely not enabling. We're showing people that if you can just survive long enough, there's a better way and that's what happened to me," Farr said.
Farr says the day after her third overdose, her friend used and didn't make it. That's when she decided she couldn't put her family through that same pain.
She's been clean now for three years and is dedicated to getting Narcan in the hands of everyone because as she learned, addiction doesn't discriminate.
"Narcan saved my life. And now I can go out in the community and help people," Farr said.
"The gifts of recovery are amazing."
Since its installment, KDKA-TV was told many people have reached out to inquire about opening more Narcan vending machines across the state of West Virginia.