Vending machine fills need for naloxone distribution – Austin Daily Herald

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Members of the Opioid Advisory Committee are photographed with the new vending machine Narcan outside of the Government Building.
Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com

The Narcan available through the vending machine at the Government Center is a nasal spray, making use a simpler process.
Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com

The Narcan vending machine is located outside of the Government Center in Austin, available to people at any time of day. Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com

The Narcan available in the vending machine is stocked by Recovery is Happening here in Austin and funded by the Opioid Advisory Committee. Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com

Using opioid settlement funds, the Opioid Advisory Committee and Recovery is Happening have established one of Minnesota’s only vending machines dedicated to naloxone distribution.

Stocked with the commercial brand Narcan, the vending machine has been set up outside of the Government Center with the goal of ensuring that opioid users have easy access to a medication that can rapidly reverse the effects of an opioid-initiated overdose.

“I wanted Narcan easily accessible,” said Recovery is Happening Peer Support Specialist and Opioid Advisory Committee member Brandon Moseng. “It’s hard for somebody to walk into a store and ask, ‘hey, can I get some Narcan?’ A lot of it has to be prescription and a lot of the people I talked to don’t know where to go or how to get it.”

The committee itself was formed in the aftermath of opioid lawsuit settlements and is tasked with handing out grant dollars for projects like this that go toward efforts of battling opioid addiction.

Mower’s committee is made up of men and women from a variety of backgrounds including recovery groups, Health and Human Services and law enforcement.

Over the next 18 years, the county is earmarked to receive $2.1 million dollars from two different settlements.

Grant money from this well was used in the establishment of the vending machine that is stocked with both Narcan and fentanyl test strips and is free and open to any who are currently using or have family members who are using. The Narcan itself is a nasal spray.

“I would say we’re pretty cutting edge and we have the support of our sheriff and administration. The county attorney was also very supportive of this project,” said Mower County Health and Human Services Division Manager Pam Kellogg-Marmosler. “For one thing there is zero risk so if you find a friend or family member and administer it, and they are not overdosing on an opioid, there is no harm.”

The machine was dropped off on Friday, July 18 and placed outside of the building on Monday. It was stocked for the first time on Wednesday and by Thursday some boxes were already gone.

“It’s already being talked about,” Moseng said. “I’ve seen posts about it on Facebook and there wasn’t even Narcan in it yet. I’ve already seen people sharing it.”

Those who are on the committee are aware, however, that there will be some who are against placing the vending machine, seeing it more as an enabling drug use rather than a way to keep somebody alive.

“I know it probably will be controversial,” Kellogg-Marmosler said. “We’re not promoting drugs. We would preferably have you contact Recovery is Happening and get some help. If they are not at that point we can save their life.”

Moseng agreed.

“I saw this thing the other day that’s kind of stuck in my head,” he said. “You can’t get clean if you’re not alive. That’s the thing with the vending machine. There are some people who have overdosed once and they changed their life after that. There are other people who have gone five, six, seven times being saved and they haven’t come around to it. I would rather keep somebody safe.”

The vending machine isn’t just a place to get Narcan, however. There are plans to get some kind of wrap for the machine or magnets that provide contact information for Recovery is Happening so people know they have a place to go if they feel they are ready to get clean.

There’s also been talk about placing cards within the machine and the Narcan itself so people have a way of reaching out.

“I think it’s breaking the stigma so people know there is access to this or that. That there are people out there who care,” Moseng said. “The vending machine is a very small part. They see that there is somebody out there for harm reduction, helping them. Maybe it drives them to walk in the door and say, ‘I need help.’”

Recovery is Happening, the group that requested funds from the committee is in charge of stocking the machine and is also an access point at its downtown location.

The goal with the machine is the same as the group’s goal — keeping people alive.

“We don’t judge you. We don’t ask you any questions,” Moseng said. “The vending machine will be a success.”

As for the committee itself, Kellogg-Marmosler hopes that the vending machine can also kick-start more requests for funding. Since the committee’s inception around three years ago, she said that requests for proposals have been sluggish.

“It’s actually been a little slow,” Kellogg-Marmosler said. “We want to see more of these projects get going.”

Anybody wanting to submit requests can contact Kellogg-Marmosler by emailing: pamkn@co.mower.mn.us.

For more on Recovery is Happening, visit: https://recoveryishappening.org/