How Broward law enforcement wants to get Narcan to some most at risk of overdose
It would take a matter of seconds for people among those most at risk for drug overdose to get a life-saving product in their hands.
Five vending machines stocked with naloxone, a medication that rapidly reverses an opioid overdose and is commonly known by the brand name Narcan, have been installed in public areas of the Broward Sheriff's Office's four jails and the Department of Detention and Community Programs office in Lauderdale Lakes. They are intended for inmates leaving custody and people under community supervision to access in a way that alleviates fear of judgment, oftentimes a barrier to seeking resources for people struggling with addiction.
'We understand the stigma associated with it,' David Scharf, BSO's Executive Director of Community Programs, told the South Florida Sun Sentinel. 'So we wanted people to be able to discreetly have access to it and takes maybe 12 seconds to press a button and pick up a couple of boxes and walk out the door.'
The free naloxone vending machines have been inside the jails' public lobby areas and the Lauderdale Lakes office for about two months, and messaging on the sides of the machines show how to use the sprays. The project, which cost a total of about $80,000, was funded by a U.S. Department of Health and Human Services grant and took about a year to roll out, Scharf said.
Similar vending machines have been installed in other areas of the country in recent years. Often they included Narcan, in addition to drug-testing kits and strips or reproductive health supplies. One machine installed in a neighborhood of a small city in Massachusetts supplies syringes, drug test strips and pipes for smoking, items that are among those considered harm-reduction supplies by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.
Lauderhill Fire Rescue late last year installed more than 30 naloxone dispensers at different locations in the city.
While other machines elsewhere in the U.S. are located outside of county health buildings or in places where the general population can access them at any time, Scharf said the Sheriff's Office's five machines were installed in the jails and Lauderdale Lakes office with the intent that those released from the criminal justice system, specifically, will take them.
People released from jails and prisons are among those most at risk of a drug overdose death, and data from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement shows that thousands of people are arrested in Broward County annually for drug-related offenses.
Scharf said that an internal study, reviewing deaths in Broward County from 2023, showed that a 'significant number' of people who died from an overdose had spent time in the Broward jail system before their death. Deputies, employees of a substance abuse program in the jails and other personnel are informing people in custody about the machines so they know naloxone is available when they leave, he said.
People recently released from custody are more at risk of an overdose, in part, because their tolerance to a drug may have decreased while not using for a period of time, Scharf said.
Naloxone can be used to reverse the effects of an overdose from heroin, fentanyl, oxycodone, hydrocodone, codeine, morphine and other opioids. While overdose deaths have declined in Florida in recent years, fentanyl is still the deadliest drug.
More than 2,500 people statewide died from fentanyl in the first half of 2023, the latest data from the Florida Medical Examiners Commission shows, about 200 less deaths than the same time period in its 2022 report. More than 580 of those who died were in South Florida, with Palm Beach County reporting the third-highest number of fentanyl deaths statewide and Broward County the fourth highest. Broward County previously recorded the highest number of fentanyl-related deaths in the state.
Sharf said law enforcement and fire rescue have in recent years often see multiple overdoses on multiple shifts in a day. In 2024, deputies deployed Narcan and saw 'hundreds of revivals,' he said.
More than 2,600 doses of naloxone were administered in Broward County alone in 2023, but the vast majority of the time emergency medical services personnel are the ones administering it rather than someone prior to their arrival, the latest data available from the Florida Department of Health shows.
Since the vending machines have been installed, Sharf said they are 'constantly replenishing' the naloxone, but it is difficult to discern how often and when someone other than fire rescue and law enforcement are taking the sprays.
A study from Rutgers University-New Brunswick in late 2024 found that the total number of naloxone boxes distributed in six Michigan county jails using similar vending machines increased by over 60% within six months after they were installed.
The following locations are among those in Broward County that offer naloxone, according to a database maintained by I Save Florida:
Broward Addiction Recovery Center, 325 SW 28th St., Fort Lauderdale;
Fort Lauderdale Health Center Pharmacy, 2421 SW Sixth Ave., Fort Lauderdale;
Paul Hughes Health Center Pharmacy, 205 NW Sixth Ave., Pompano Beach;
Edgar Mills Health Center Family Planning, 900 NW 31st Ave., Fort Lauderdale;
Destination Hope, 8301 West McNab Road, Tamarac;
Fellowship Foundation RCO, 5400 W. Atlantic Blvd., Margate;
House of Hope, 908 SW First St., Fort Lauderdale;
Project Opioid South Florida, 110 East Broward Blvd. Suite 1990, Fort Lauderdale;
The Robin Foundation, 4098 SW 141st Ave., Davie;
Victory Recovery Center, 7618 Margate Blvd., Fort Lauderdale.
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