24-05-2025
Denver to install naloxone vending machines at police stations to combat overdose crisis
DENVER (KDVR) — A new tool in the fight against Colorado's overdose crisis is being installed outside three Denver Police Department locations.
The city is partnering with The Naloxone Project and the Colorado Attorney General's Office to launch harm reduction vending machines that dispense free naloxone kits. Naloxone is a fast-acting medication that can reverse an opioid overdose.
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The first machines will be installed at police headquarters and two additional stations next week. The goal: make the overdose reversal drug accessible in areas where it's needed most.
'About two months ago, we started working with DPD again to further our partnership,' said Joshua Jacoves, Program Director of The Naloxone Project. 'We have that kit at headquarters by Civic Center because we see on Colfax, there are a lot of those overdoses occurring.'
Each vending machine contains kits with intranasal naloxone and easy-to-follow instructions. The kits are free, no insurance or identification required.
Jacoves noted that overdose deaths are continuing to rise across the state.
'Overdose deaths are happening everywhere across the country and in Colorado,' he said. '2024, we saw about a little over 80,000 people pass away from an opioid overdose in Colorado, and especially in Denver, the last data we saw in 2023 was that we had 600 Denver residents pass away from an overdose.'
Some critics argue that distributing naloxone might encourage riskier drug use, but Jacoves pushed back on that claim, comparing the criticism to past resistance to public safety tools.
'Naloxone is very similar to a lot of these other big public safety efforts we've had in the US,' he said. 'Critics said the same thing about seat belts and said seat belts encourage dangerous driving. We are really again covering the city in a blanket of protection, to make sure that people aren't going to use a little riskier, because they're not, but they are going to have the antidote in case something happens.'
The program's impact is already measurable. At a pilot machine installed in April, more than 1,000 kits have been taken in less than two months.
'Every single time myself, my coordinator, my intern, goes to restock… someone comes up to us and tells us a story about how naloxone saved their cousin's life, a brother's life, they saw someone reverse an overdose on the street across from where the machine was,' Jacoves said.
FOX31 visited the pilot site this week, where nearly two-thirds of the machine's contents had already been taken.
'As you can see, this was restocked at 12 on Tuesday, and we are probably two thirds empty already,' said a representative during the site visit.
Leaders said having police serve as the host sites sends a strong message.
'Having police here in Denver lead the way with this station effort, I think, shows the commitment of our side and the police side to keeping our city safe,' Jacoves said.
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Officials in Aurora told FOX31 they are researching whether to implement similar machines. Meanwhile, the Naloxone Project said it's always looking for volunteers to help assemble the kits.
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