USA. Thousands of Free Naloxone Doses Hitting Music Events This Summer
USA. Thousands of Free Naloxone Doses Hitting Music Events This Summer
Music events feel like one of the last safe, unifying cultural gatherings in a country ravaged by divisions and stresses, including the pressures of a multi-year pandemic. Most of these events were canceled in 2020 and 2021, but this year packed clubs, arenas and festival grounds are back in full force, and folks are heading out—searching for that connection they have so missed, through the music they love.
Just last week, at a music event in Olympia, Washington, a woman was found dead. As we know, tragic deaths are increasingly frequent as fentanyl and its analogs continue to make their way into unexpected substances, including counterfeit prescription pills. People in the 18-45 age range are most vulnerable—and these are the people most likely to attend a music event this summer.
Thanks to a bit of innovation and a lot of collaboration, there will be some protection from the devastation of overdose in these spaces. Three groups are using the dynamic that music events create to distribute naloxone, the opioid-overdose reversal drug, on an unprecedented scale. (Filter, USA, 19.07.2022)