County Expanding Narcan Vending Machine Program

Harm reduction vending machine. Photo by Graham Kilmer.

Milwaukee County officials are planning to expand a successful, lifesaving vending machine program.

These machines do not sell chips and candy, rather they provide free livesaving medications and other items intended to reduce the deadly toll of the opioid epidemic.

The county’s Behavioral Health Services placed 11 harm reduction vending machines throughout the community last year, distributing the opioid overdose reversal drug naloxone (brand name Narcan), fentanyl testing strips, medication lock bags, drug disposal pouches and gun locks. Now the county officials are looking for eight more community businesses or organizations to host a vending machine.

“Making these harm reduction tools free and easily accessible have been life saving in our county. The tragic reality is that substance use touches everyone regardless of age, race, gender, socio economic status and geography; an overdose can happen anywhere,” County Executive David Crowley said during a press conference Tuesday at Outreach Community Health Centers Outpatient Clinic, 210 W Capitol Dr.

Crowley noted that Milwaukee County Parks employee Shanice Collins used Narcan from a vending machine to save the lives of two men who were overdosing at the King Park Community Center. “Because of her quick action, and an easy access to Narcan, those two men live to see another day,” Crowley said.

The county executive said he is “calling on universities, gas stations, and even community centers to consider applying to host a harm reduction vending machine.”

These machines were a “novel concept” when the county installed the first one in 2023, said Dr. Ben Weston, the county’s chief health policy advisor. Officials expected that “non-invasive, non-judgmental and private” access to harm reduction supplies would increase their spread throughout the community. “But today we know that was the case,” Weston said. “In the six months since those initial 11 vending machines were replaced, members of our community have obtained close to 2,500 fentanyl test strips and 2,100 Naloxone boxes.”

EMS personnel are finding naloxone, in part due to other programs designed to get more of it into the community, has been used in an increasing number of responses to drug overdoses. “We’re seeing a lot more times where somebody calls 911 for an overdose, and by the time EMS arrives, that person is now breathing, as opposed to blue and in cardiac arrest,” Weston said.

There were 480 confirmed opioid overdoses in Milwaukee County in 2023, Weston said, with 90 additional deaths still being investigated. This is down from 2022 when the county experienced nearly 700 overdose deaths.

Weston encouraged anyone who works at or owns a business that sees high-traffic and serves a “wide, and varied population” to apply for a vending machine with the county. There is no cost to host the vending machine; the county maintains them and tracks their use.

The county has so far placed 11 vending machines across seven zip codes and in three municipalities, said Clarence Jenkins, administrative coordinator for the Milwaukee County Behavioral Health Services’ Community Access to Recovery Services. With the additional eight it hopes to place this year, Jenkins said the county will accept applications until March 1. Applications can be found online on the county’s harm reduction webpage.

The vending machines come with instructions for using the various harm reduction supplies, and the narcan in particular also has instructions on the box.

Crowley said the naloxone kits are fairly easy to administer. He said it looks like a nasal pump and that a dose, or pump, should be delivered to each nostril. If someone seems like they haven’t come to, another dose can be given. “To put it plainly, you cannot overdose or have too much Narcan,” Crowley said.

Peggy Williams-Smith joined the press conference to encourage local businesses to apply to host a machine. She shared that her own family has been affected by overdose and addiction, and said the effects of the opioid epidemic can be found everywhere. “Hosting a harm reduction vending machine empowers individuals struggling with addiction by providing them with access to essential resources without judgment.”