NEW ORLEANS — The city of New Orleans is giving out free Narcan at four fire stations around the city.
It is being done in response to a spike in opioid use in the city and in anticipation of plenty of people both locally and from out of town being here this weekend for the French Quarter Festival, the pro golf tournament and the Pelicans playoff game.
"Fridays and Saturdays we see the biggest spikes in naloxone administration. We definitely see a spike when people are going out and celebrating and bringing in large events just brings more people to add to that burden."
Narcan quickly reverses the effects of an overdose. Doctors say the increased need for them is being fueled by fentanyl, which is 50 times more powerful than morphine.
“It takes a small amount of (fentanyl) to render someone incapacitated,” said Dr. Jennifer Avegno, Director of the New Orleans City Health Department. “Fentanyl is in everything. A preliminary analysis of our overdose deaths last year show that it is in at least 90 percent of those deaths.”
Avegno said that Fentanyl is used a lot in conjunction with other drugs because it is cheap and increases the profits "for those who would profit on the suffering and deaths of others."
"It's incredibly addictive, even more so than other opioids."
The free Narcan can be picked up Wednesday until 8 p.m. at the following locations:
Station 1: 2920 Magazine Street
Station 2: 317 Decatur Street
Station 3: 5401 Read Blvd.
Station 4: 2500 General DeGaulle
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