This approach to Harm Reduction is to not just engage with the individuals who are suffering from opioid disorders but also including the folks who are indirectly affected. By involving the entire community we can increase the number of lives being changed for the best and even saved.
Data from the CDC estimate more than 107,000 people died of a drug overdose in 2021 with 75% of those deaths involving an opioid. The overall rise in overdose deaths is largely attributable to the proliferation in the drug supply of illicit fentanyl, a highly potent synthetic opioid.
Create a beacon for conversation promoting community-based substance use disorder acknowledgment and recovery support by addressing individuals and their families. Talking openly about opioid disorders is the first step to Improving access to resources, and life-saving implements.
Assembled by hand and installed at night life establishments in San Francisco where the chance of an opioid overdose inside or nearby is probable. The Harm Reduction Boxes serve as a beacon for conversation to promote a community-based substance use disorder acknowledgment and recovery support by addressing dialogue between individuals and their friends and families. Talking openly about opioid disorders is the first step to improving access to resources, and life-saving implements. The Harm Reduction boxes exist in public spaces to put people's minds at ease about our current opioid crisis. The boxes are installed in establishments in a highly visible common space area where employees, and patrons alike can interact with this box either conversationally, or in a worse-case scenario administering life-saving naloxone.
To date 32 Harm Reduction Boxes have been distributed throughout San Francisco's night life establishments.
"Harm-reduction boxes offer ‘a beacon for conversation’ That push to reduce stigma and save lives is why Josh Yule has been building harm-reduction boxes and delivering them to bars since December. The bright, medical-white boxes contain Narcan; a neon pink, three-step guide to administering it; and fentanyl test strips."
Holly McDede—KQED
