The Codman Square Health Center is having community discussions about installing a vending machine at their Codman Square campus that would dispense the drug Narcan, an over-the-counter nasal spray as of 2023 that is dispensed in much the same way as nasal allergy sprays and reverses the effects of an opioid overdose when administered.
The proposal came up on July 2 during a Codman Square Neighborhood Council (CSNC) meeting, and Emerson Miller, the center’s new director of behavioral health, in presenting the idea promised more back and forth and meetings over the next few months.
“The [machine] would be located on our property so anyone could come and get it low threshold whether it is a drug user or a person that loves a drug user or a person in the community that wants to help,” he said. “There are a few out there already in Boston, but none in 02124 and we would like to change that.”
The drug does not harm anyone if used erroneously.
The vending machine model was introduced in 2023 and has been used across the country to make Narcan and overdose kits available at all hours of the day. The outlets work like vending machines but offer harm-reduction products like Narcan for free.
“This is where we have to take care of our own and our community,” said Dr. Guy Fish, director of the health center for the last year. “Sometimes people look at us with SUDS (substance use disorders) and think we are encouraging drug use. We would like [users] to find their way off drugs, but we have to walk with them to do that and they have to be alive for us to walk with them. We have to take this seriously and take care of our own.”
Miller said that statistics show the problem is very real in the Codman Square area – death from SUDS is two times more likely there than in other parts of the city with 50 deaths per 10,000 people contrasted with numbers elsewhere at around 25 deaths per 10,000 people, or even as low as 10 – and this proposal is part of his effort to treat SUDS there.
“We are losing folks every year we shouldn’t lose,” he said.
The health center is also ready to introduce a Mobile Medical Van that would have two exam rooms and offer a range of services on the go. More information will be released about that soon.
