A non-profit called This Must Be The Place will have a tent at the Midtown Musical Festival this weekend and hand out a nasal spray medication called Kloxxado, which is a double dose of the opioid overdose-reversing agent called Naloxone.
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“We have a short training, and then we give it out to anyone willing to take it. ” said founder William Perry.
Perry, a recovering heroin addict from Ohio, travels to music festivals and other events around the country to distribute the nasal spray. He says the presence of fentanyl in many street drugs is behind the soaring number of overdose deaths in recreational drug users.
“We have saved lives on-site and off-site. What the stats are telling us currently is three out of five overdose deaths happen either in a public place or with someone else present. Which means we need this stuff in the hands of the bystander.” said Perry.
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The spray is simple to administer and fast-acting. Some concertgoers say it’s a great idea to have it available to music fans.
“It could save so many lives. I don’t see a downside to it honestly.” said festival attendee Lucia Greco.
“I definitely heard of a lot of people getting stuff laced with fentanyl. It’s a very prevalent problem so trying to fix it is important.” said festival attendee Anna Kate Mattingly.
Perry said his organization, which is funded by donations and crowd-sourcing, has distributed 35,000 overdose-reversing nasal sprays since March 2022. He said he has around 2,500 doses on hand at Midtown Music Festival and he hopes he can distribute most of them.
“That’s just what we are trying to do. It’s protecting people. To get this stuff out there, and reduce a little bit of the stigma.” said Perry.
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