<
https://pulitzercenter.org/stories/choctaw-nation-found-better-way-deliver-harm-reduction-its-working>
"DURANT, Okla.— On a scorching 100-degree day in southeastern Oklahoma, Choctaw
Nation Behavioral Health workers set up two tables under a small tent in a
parking lot at a busy intersection in the town of Durant. White and pink boxes
of the anti-overdose drug naloxone sit neatly arranged next to informational
handouts about opioid-use disorder.
As cars slow down and pedestrians pass by, occasional visitors approach the
table. Each receives a warm welcome and a brief, but potentially life-saving,
training. Staff members demonstrate how to properly administer naloxone, with
one lying on the chipped asphalt while another shows how to use the nasal
spray.
The street-level distribution became crucial after naloxone (often sold under
the brand name Narcan) became available over the counter in 2023. Pharmacies
now stock it, but the $45 price tag for two doses is out of reach for many,
especially in rural areas. The distribution drives are part of the Choctaw
Nation’s systematic approach to preventing overdose deaths on its
10,800-square-mile reservation.
While national overdose rates declined from 2022 to 2023, Native communities
continue to see increases. The challenges are particularly acute for tribal
nations, which are typically located in rural areas where health access is
limited by distance, poverty, and lack of infrastructure. These barriers,
combined with generational trauma, broken treaty promises, and chronic
underfunding, have created ideal conditions for the opioid crisis.
The FDA approved naloxone in 2015 to reverse opioid overdoses. It’s available
primarily as a nasal spray, and anyone with basic training can administer it.
As Native communities battle against the deadly surge of fentanyl, naloxone has
become their most powerful tool for saving lives.
The naloxone distribution program on Choctaw Nation reflects a broader public
health strategy called harm reduction, an approach to drug use aimed at
reducing its worst effects — like death and disease — without demanding
abstinence from drug users. It emerged in the 1980s in the U.S., with local
communities, driven largely by grassroots movements, opening centers where
heroin users could exchange used needles for clean ones to reduce the spread of
AIDS.
While research shows harm reduction saves lives and experts consider it crucial
to addiction care, these programs often face resistance. There is still stigma
related to addiction among many tribal citizens. And some fear programs
providing naloxone and clean needles will enable drug use, though multiple
studies have found no evidence supporting this concern."
Via
Reasons to be Cheerful:
<
https://reasonstobecheerful.world/what-were-reading-canada-first-first-responders/>
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
