FLORENCE, Ky. — Five people died of drug overdoses in Boone County on Tuesday, bringing the total to 49 within 30 days, according to the Northern Kentucky Health Department.
The spike prompted the health department to issue its second OD alert this summer.
Three of the most recent overdose incidents, which occurred between July 15 and 16, were fatal.
In response to the rise in overdoses, the health department recently set up temporary harm reduction tents like the one staffed by Seth Steele on Mall Road in Florence.
“We have harm reduction supplies on the table,” Steele said, “First of all, we have naloxone, which is a nasal spray that helps reverse opioid-related overdoses.”
Throughout the two-hour session, several people approached a pop-up tent to pick up fentanyl testing strips, naloxone and other harm reduction supplies that can save drug users’ lives by helping them avoid ingesting fentanyl, a highly potent narcotic, or reversing the effects of an overdose if they do ingest it.
“We know that one of the most effective ways to get people into treatment is to provide harm reduction materials,” Steele says. “Everyone is on their own time frame when using drugs, so the key is to keep them alive as long as possible.”
Health Department Director Jennifer Mooney said the area’s drug supply is changing, likely contributing to the recent spike in overdoses in Boone County.
She said fentanyl has been introduced into a much wider range of drugs than before.
“The days of just heroin are long gone,” Mooney said. “I think anything goes now. I don’t think now is the time to try drugs. I just assume everything is deadly.”
Mooney said long-term solutions to addiction in the area require a multi-faceted collaborative approach involving the health care department, law enforcement agencies such as the Boone County Sheriff’s Office and deputies.
In the meantime, authorities will be working aggressively to save lives.
Mooney said people who can’t make it to a pop-up distribution site can go to the health department’s website and request to have a free naloxone kit mailed directly to their home.
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