According to Gjvar Payne, executive director of the Capitol Area Reentry Program that oversees the Be Safe Syringe Service Program, naloxone has historically been kept on hand by people who use drugs intervaneously, because they were injecting opioids.
“Now, because of the presence and uptick of fentanyl in our communities, we have to protect anyone that uses drugs, because any drug could be laced with fentanyl,” he said.
The Be Safe mission involves “reducing the amount of harm done to the individual” who uses drugs, Payne said. His team provides clean, sterile syringes, fentanyl testing strips, Narcan and other essential items to minimize the risk of infection or death.
Payne says the goal is not to promote drug use, but rather to help people who are using drugs stay as safe as possible.
Jon Daily, a director at the Baton Rouge district attorney’s office who handles community relations — and who has recovered from addiction himself — said there has been a concentrated effort in the last year and a half to send outreach teams to overdose hotspots in the parish. Making Narcan more accessible can only help, he added.
“I think making it more readily available is going to contribute directly to saving lives,” Daily said. “I think what it means for the parish is we are finally being open-minded enough to deploy proven and effective strategies. It’s so stigmatized.”
Last year, non-fatal overdoses — which experts say are likely severely underreported — totaled almost 1,400, according to the district attorney’s office. Fatal overdoses came in just under 300 — a slight decrease from the previous year, but far more than most previous years.
At the same time, the percentage of fentanyl-involved overdoses increased, Daily said. Narcan access could make a difference in those numbers.
“I know some people are going to be upset, saying you’re encouraging or enabling people to use,” he said. “I understand the principle, but it doesn’t apply when you’re dealing with an illness.”
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