LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Narcan is now available in vending machines within the Las Vegas valley.
These machines won't potentially subtract years from your life, but instead, it could save your life - making a huge difference in the fight against opioid addiction in Southern Nevada.
Krista Hales works for the Center for Behavioral Health.
"There are numerous kits inside those machines,” she said. “The main goal of them was to be dispensing clean syringes for people who are engaging in intravenous or intra-muscular drug use.”
There will also be personal hygiene kits, safe sex kits, and pregnancy tests available but for now, the machines only dispense Narcan, the drug that blocks the effects of opioids and can even reverse an overdose.
“Narcan is becoming more readily available in Nevada, it’s being used more often, and we see a lot of reversals of overdoses,” Hales said.
First responders like the Nevada Highway Patrol have also been trained in the use of Narcan.
Last September a trooper’s body camera was rolling as he used the drug to save a man in the middle of an overdose after being flagged down on the side of a highway.
RELATED: Nevada trooper describes agency's first use of Narcan
“It’s readily available to anyone,” Hales said. “I carry one in my car. And I have them in my house just in case because even someone who is taking their medication as prescribed could be at risk for an overdose."
To use the vending machine you have to register for the syringe exchange program. Then you will get a specially programmed card that allows you to get free kits from the device.
The kits are available at the following places:
The Center for Behavioral Health, 3050 E. Desert Inn, Suite 116
Gay and Lesbian Community Center of Southern Nevada 401 S. Maryland Pkwy.
Huntridge Family Clinic 1830 E. Sahara Ave. Suite 201
