County jail’s Narcan vending machine seeing significant use

He recalled the interaction to show the new vending machine is working as intended: allowing anyone, particularly previously incarcerated individuals at high risk for opioid overdose or those in close proximity to them, access to the potentially lifesaving drug. 

“If someone who is at home with them ends up using, something bad happens, they could help save their lives,” he said. 

Narcan, a nasal spray version of naloxone, can rapidly reverse opioid overdoses and has increasingly been employed as a tool to combat rising drug overdose rates across California and the nation. By pushing a button on the new vending machine, anyone can immediately access two doses of the drug. 

At Maguire Correctional Facility, the vending machine’s intentional location and informational element — it displays information on shelter and housing, mental health and treatment services — aims to target a particularly vulnerable population, along with the individuals who might be present in a time of crisis. 

Those leaving incarceration are particularly susceptible to the risk of overdose, del Rosario said, and it can be challenging to mitigate that probability from inside the jail. Approximately 70% of those booked into Maguire are addicted to alcohol or drugs, according to an April 30 press release from the county. 

“We get them ready, take care of them, but what they do outside, we want to be able to help with that as well,” he said. “A lot of times it’s going to be family or friends they live with that might be the person to help save them.” 

Since its installation — funded by a $85,000 grant from the California Medication Assisted Treatment in Jails and Drug Court — the Narcan vending machine has been used more than 250 times, del Rosario said. The supply of Narcan itself is given free of charge from state programs. 

The San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office and Correctional Health Services have worked to expand other facets of their drug treatment and mental health options, including revamping an existing Behavioral Health Unit and detox space known as the Medical Observation Unit. All individuals known to be at risk for drug abuse are given Narcan as they leave incarceration, del Rosario said.

But anyone at all — regardless of their relationship to those incarcerated — is welcome to come to the lobby to receive Narcan, del Rosario said. 

“We don’t want to create a barrier for access. We want it to be freely available for anyone who needs it. We tell anybody — take it, have it with you, if you see anyone who might be having an overdose, use it,” he said. 

There’s little way to measure the efficacy of the program, del Rosario said, since the machine doesn’t ask for any personal information and the Narcan distributed will be used in the community, not the jail. 

“We’d love to hear if there’s any stories of ones that have successfully used it out in the community,” he said. 

holly@smdailyjournal.com

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