CANTON, Ohio — Stark County health officials are offering a new way to combat a disturbing trend and it's making headlines.
In what's believed to be a first-of-its-kind way in Ohio to distribute Naloxone— commonly referred to as Narcan— an old newspaper box has been repurposed to distribute the medicine that rapidly reverses an opioid overdose.
The box is located inside Stark Community Support Network on Harrisburg Road NE in Canton.
Stark County resident Melanie Crews stopped by the agency on Friday to pick up two boxes of Narcan. Each box has two doses in it.
Crews, who has family members who have struggled with addiction, plans to keep Narcan in her car and her purse in the event that she needs to help anyone in the community.
"You never know when you'll need it, so that's why I picked it up," Crews said. "You just never know if you'll help a stranger in the streets or a family member."
Raye Campbell, who works in a local group home, also picked up some of the Narcan boxes.
She has personally witnessed how great the need can be in Stark County.
"I see a lot of people at gas stations. They're slumped over, and everything like that, and I want to make a difference for somebody else and help them out," Campbell said.
According to the Stark County Health Department, there has been a rise in deadly overdoses in recent years: 131 deaths in 2020, 143 deaths in 2021, and 159 deaths in 2022.
Tiffany Skillern, the executive director of Stark Community Support Network, said people can pick up Narcan— no questions asked— from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday.
"Anyone can come. It doesn't have to be that you're using drugs. I think that's one of the misconceptions is that if you come in here, then you'll be judged as a drug addict," Skillern added.
When asked what she thought of an old newspaper box transformed into a Narcan distributor, Skillern said, "What once held news now holds life."
Skillern said the availability of Narcan is critical because the agency is located in a high-need section of Canton.
"We're living in a high poverty area, A high crime area, so people are stressed out. We're also seeing a lot of health disparities," Skillern said.
Crews hopes she never has to use the doses of Narcan, but she'll be ready in case she does.
"I know in the city of Canton there are some people that I may be able to help."
