HARTSVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — The idea is to save lives.
We've told you how vending machines offering free Narcan are now at sheriff's offices in Nashville and Memphis.
The problem is opioid users and those close to them may think twice about going to an SO.
So a local non-profit is making free Narcan available elsewhere
"We are in a laundromat in Hartsville. The machine is just right around the corner," said Freddie Fuqua with Hope Family Health.
Around the corner and inside this non-descript coin laundry on Main Street.
And, right there next to the soda, candy, change machines and detergent and fabric softener dispenser is this ...
"This is our vending machine for narcan and fentanyl testing strips," said Fuqua..
Hope Family Health CEO Jennifer Dittes added, "We decided to put the Narcan machine in a laundromat because we knew that is where it would reach people.
She and other with the non-profit Hope Family Health know easy access to Narcan which quickly reverses an overdose saves lives.
The idea of vending machines providing it free is new.
To date they are in the sheriff office lobbies in Nashville, Memphis and Jamestown.
That's fine, but Hope Family Health and others now involved in the cause think the machines need to be elsewhere.
"We eliminate all deterrents ...easy access. Just come in and get it. No questions asked. No judgment," said recovered addict Will Taylor.
No judgment is important to Tabitha Swaffer.
She shared a photo showing of her as a user ... and now in recovery.
Swaffer knows some may want to access the Narcan, but would be hesitant.
"A user or family member, if they have warrants they are not going to go there. They will be afraid they are watched or being followed. A drug user will not got to the sheriff's office of their own free will."
The vending machines are funded through a grant from the state's Opiod Abatement Council.
That money comes from the multi-million dollar opioid lawsuit settlements to fight addiction.
The goal of easy access is to save lives ...
"We do not advocate people using drugs, but if they are we want them to live long enough to seek treatment." said Dittes.
Hope Family Health is working to place more of the Narcan vending machines -- specifically looking for locations now in Portland and Gallatin, Tennessee
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-Rebecca Schleicher
