HUNTSVILLE, Ala (WHNT) – “Naloxone,” also known as Narcan, can serve as a life-saving measure for those struggling with addiction.
“When people experience that overdose, we have a short window of time to be able to get that medication to enable breathing again, and without that, that’s where we see the fatal overdoses,” said Aubin Cawthon. He is the community coordinator at R.O.S.S. Recovery Community Center.
Although Narcan can also be expensive, ranging anywhere from $30-50. That’s why R.O.S.S. Recovery Community Center in Huntsville is trying to create greater access for those who need it.
“I go out every week into the camps here in Huntsville and pass out medications like Narcan and resources for treatment and recovery resources,” he said. “Every week I hear, ‘numerous people have overdosed this week. We need more Narcan. Five people overdosed this week; we need more Narcan.’”
This week, they were able to take strides in that fight.
In front of their building, you can now find 24-hour access to Narcan and fentanyl testing strips.
Cawthon said there can sometimes be a negative or dangerous idea around the medication, but it only has an effect if someone is experiencing an overdose.
“Our fight is to try to keep people alive, and that’s all this medication does,” he said. “It does not enable people to continue using drugs.”
Cawthon is in recovery himself. He said he believes the slow decline in overdose deaths we are seeing around the country can be directly correlated to greater access to Narcan.
“Thankfully, I made it to recovery, but a lot of my friends didn’t,” he said. “Had we had access to Naloxone, they would have.”
If you need help, R.O.S.S. Recovery Community Center is open seven days a week. You can contact them at (256) 713-8881. They are located at 8211 Stephanie Dr SW, UNIT A, Huntsville, AL 35802.
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