US opioid crisis: Hope for new approach as naloxone machines spread in 2023

Vending machines with free overdose-reversal drugs are being embraced across US, but misconceptions remain a hurdle.

Washington, DC – It was a hot summer day in July when Shekita McBroom received a phone call from a local hair salon.

The stylist on the other end of the line urgently needed a resupply — not of hair dye or shampoo, but of the overdose-reversal drug naloxone.

Commonly known by the brand name Narcan, naloxone is a life-saving medication, often taken as a nasal spray to counteract the symptoms of opioid consumption.

That a hair salon had a backroom supply of the drug came as no surprise, though, to McBroom, a community advocate in Washington, DC, who campaigns to prevent overdoses. If anything, she would like to see naloxone available more widely — including through vending machines.

“I try to connect people with more supply because they don’t always know where to find it,” she told Al Jazeera. But with vending machines, she sees a convenient solution: a quick and easy way to dispense emergency care at all hours of the day, in neighbourhoods where services might otherwise be limited.