MONTEREY — In hopes of combating the growing drug and overdose epidemic in the Monterey County and California, Monterey is offering free Narcan spray boxes at prominent community locations.
Spearheaded by the Central Coast Overdose Prevention Coalition, the nonprofit partnered with the Monterey Police Department and the Multi-Disciplinary Outreach Team
“It’s totally free. You can go to any of the three locations and take Narcan for yourself, a friend or family,” said Lt. Ethan Andrews of the Monterey Police Department. “The boxes will be re-supplied on a regular basis.”
The Narcan Now Boxes look similar to a newsstand and are light blue. They are located at:
*Monterey Transit Plaza, 500 Tyler St.
*Monterey Police Department, 351 Madison St.
*Monterey Outreach and Navigation Center, 401 Camino El Estero
The decision to place the boxes around Monterey comes in response to the statistics released by the California Department of Public Health.
“Monterey County is seeing an increase year after year related to drug overdoses and 2023 is probably going to be the worst year yet,” Andrews said. “So this is a way to save lives. The Coalition reached out to us and we knew it was needed, and we are happy to partner with them.”
Narcan, or naloxone, is an opiate antagonist and acts quickly to reverse the effects of opioid overdose. One of the reasons so many use it as a first-aid measure is because it has no effect on people who do not have opioids in their system.
“It is a crucial intervention that can mean the difference between life and death in emergency situations,” the Monterey Police Department wrote in a press statement.
