On Feb. 12, University of Oregon Substance Abuse Prevention and Education produced a dispenser containing free individual doses of Narcan nasal spray which was installed by the Erb Memorial Union building manager team on the EMU ground floor.
SAPE is a campus organization that focuses on substance misuse prevention and harm reduction as well as providing support for students who chose to abstain from substance use.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Narcan, also known as naloxone, is a drug that when administered can reverse the effects of an opioid overdose.
Gabriela Gutierrez, the student director of SAPE, said that the implementation of a Narcan dispenser on campus has been in discussion for “at least a few years.”
Gutierrez said the EMU was chosen as the location for the dispenser due to its accessibility.
“We went over quite a few locations, and ultimately we felt that the EMU would be best for our dispenser because it’s more of a public building, and it has more extensive hours compared to maybe some other buildings…it’s in a more central location as well,” Gutierrez said.
According to Kit Wooler, another student director of SAPE, the organization funded its Duck Overdose Prevention Education through a foundation and is working toward getting grant funding.
In addition to the dispenser, SAPE has also hosted several training sessions to teach students how to administer Narcan throughout the year.
Wooler said the dispenser is an easier way for students to obtain doses of Narcan.
“It’s a bit more of an effortful process to attend a 30 minute training and get that one dose, so having that dispenser makes it easier for students to get one any time they need it,” Wooler said.
Wooler also said that the discrete nature of the dispensers was an important feature.
“Students don’t have to document themselves in any way, and they can just go by any time to pick it up,” Wooler said.
The dispenser is stocked on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays and is available during EMU working hours.
According to Wooler, there were 48 doses of Narcan stocked in the dispenser in the past two weeks, and all 48 were dispensed.
Gabriel Bedrosian-Tinelle, co-director of Narcare UO, another organization that works to bring awareness to opioid misuse and harm reduction, cited “stigma” as an issue for harm reduction.
“Stigma of use is a big barrier to college kids getting or seeking treatment and harm reduction supplies or practices. They might be shamed by friends or family, embarrassed and then not reach out, but they’re still going to use the substance,” Bedrosian-Tinelle said.
Brooke Kirstein, another co-director of Narcare UO, said access to harm reduction resources like Narcan are important on college campuses.
“A college campus is somewhere where there’s higher concentrations of people drinking and partying and using drugs, even if it’s not specifically opioids, there’s always a possibility of getting a drug that’s laced with fentanyl, and people who are using just don’t really know,” Kirstein said.
