Amber Mullen-Schweitzer/U.S. Air National Guard
Members of the Air National Guard receive Narcan training in Ohio, May 2019.
Not long ago, a neighbor in the community experienced an overdose outside the doors of the Alliance for Positive Change’s center in Harlem, New York. A passerby brought the person inside, knowing it was a safe place where help would be provided without judgment. Within minutes, staff was able to administer Narcan—also known as Naloxone, the safe and easy-to-use medication that reverses opioid overdoses. The person walked out alive.
Overdose remains one of the most pressing public health emergencies of our time. Last year, nearly 80,400 Americans lost their lives to overdose. While that’s a 27 percent decrease from 2023, it is still a staggering toll. Here in New York City, among other places, the crisis continues to hit some communities hard.
Despite overall stabilization in overdose deaths, according to the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, fatalities increased among women, older adults, and people living in our lowest-income neighborhoods. For the fourth year in a row, Black and Latino New Yorkers suffered the highest fatal overdose rates.
That’s why I believe so strongly in making Narcan available to anyone. Overdoses don’t just happen to other people. It touches every neighborhood and every demographic all across the country. They occur on sidewalks, in parks, on trains, in apartments, and in family homes. Harm reduction—or practices to reduce the risks of harm, including universal access to Narcan—begins and ends in the community, which means every one of us has a role to play.
If Narcan were as common as carrying Advil or a bandage, so many more people would have the chance to survive an overdose and see another day.
At Alliance for Positive Change, where I work, we’ve made it our mission to turn this belief into action by adopting what we call universal Narcan use, or Narcan for all.
In the past, Naloxone distribution at our organization was limited to our harm reduction-focused programs. But in 2024, we changed course. Now, at all of our locations, Narcan is offered to anyone who walks through the door, no matter their background, status, or whether they use drugs themselves. This status-neutral approach reduces stigma, broadens access, and recognizes a simple truth: Anyone could be in a position to save a life.
Since February, here in Harlem, we’ve trained nearly 350 people on how to use Narcan. Across Alliance for Positive Change, we’ve already received 118 reports of people using kits we distributed to reverse an overdose. That’s 118 lives saved because universal access put Narcan into the right hands at the right time.
And here’s the thing: Narcan is not complicated. It comes most often as a nasal spray. You don’t need to be an expert to administer it. Anyone can. In fact, one of the most common reactions I hear after a training session is how easy it is to use.
I’ve been working in harm reduction since 2003, and one lesson I’ve learned is that people don’t come to us because they want to stay in active use. They come because they want support and someone to listen, and recovery often feels impossible. The path is never linear. What they need most is compassion, dignity, and time.
Yet harm reduction remains under attack. Some policymakers continue to stigmatize or defund the very tools that work. That approach is not only misguided, it’s dangerous. Every barrier to access Narcan and other harm reduction tools means more preventable deaths. Universal Narcan distribution is one antidote to that hostility—it’s simple, effective, and rooted in community care.
So here’s my ask: Take a training. Carry Narcan. Share it with your friends, your family, your community. Harm reduction doesn’t start in a clinic. It starts on the street, in our neighborhoods and in our homes. That’s where overdoses happen, and where lives can be saved.
August 31 is International Overdose Awareness Day. Let’s honor the occasion by taking action. Because Narcan saves lives, and universal Narcan will save even more.
This column was produced for Progressive Perspectives, a project of The Progressive magazine, and distributed by Tribune News Service.