Repurposed newsstands will now present free doses of an overdose reversal drug to the Uptown neighborhood.
The 4 newsstands are part of the Chicago Division of Public Well being’s ongoing efforts to stop overdoses within the metropolis. Naloxone, additionally identified by the model title Narcan, is run by way of the nostril to reverse the lethal results of fentanyl and different opioids.
The naloxone is free to take and might be accessible in any respect 4 places beginning Aug. 27.
The stands stocked might be positioned exterior Nourishing Hope, 3945 N. Sheridan Rd.; Cornerstone Group Shelter, 4628 N. Clifton Ave.; the Institute of Cultural Affairs, 4750 N. Sheridan Rd.; and the Chicago Division of Household and Assist Companies, 845 W. Wilson Ave.
They’re the one newsstands in Chicago funded by town’s Division of Public Well being.
“Low-barrier entry to naloxone is essential to prevention of overdose in our communities,” Olusimbo Ige, the well being division commissioner, stated in an announcement. “Utilizing newsstands to allow simple, no-cost entry to this lifesaving treatment that may reverse opioid overdoses is likely one of the many modern approaches that CDPH and the forty sixth Ward make use of to save lots of lives.”
One of many newsstands might be launched throughout a hurt discount truthful Wednesday afternoon on the Division of Household and Assist Companies’ Uptown location. The initiative additionally commemorates Worldwide Overdose Consciousness Day on Aug. 31.
Mitzi Baum, chief government for Nourishing Hope, informed the Solar-Instances providing the naloxone provide exterior the group’s meals pantry is a pure extension of the opposite companies it supplies. The group has already been supplying free naloxone and drug testing kits at its three places in Uptown, Humboldt Park and West City.
The stand was arrange exterior Nourishing Hope this week.
“It means rather a lot to us to have the ability to present this help to our neighbors,” Baum stated. “It’s lifesaving.”
The well being division and different metropolis businesses additionally present free naloxone in merchandising machines, together with at CTA stations and each airports. The drug can be accessible at a number of public libraries and ward places of work. The Cook dinner County Division of Public Well being additionally provides naloxone in merchandising machines at 10 county courthouses, the Cook dinner County Jail, Stroger Hospital, Rothstein CORE Heart and Provident Hospital.
The Westside Heroin Opioid Taskforce additionally maintains 20 “Narcan newstands” on Chicago’s West Facet, in accordance with AIDS Basis Chicago.
After spiking for a number of years, opioid overdose deaths dropped 9.7% in 2023, in comparison with 3% nationally. The state credited the decline, partially, to widespread naloxone availability.
Thus far this 12 months, no less than 301 individuals have died from an opioid overdose in Chicago, in accordance with information maintained by the Cook dinner County health worker’s workplace. That’s down from the identical time interval in 2024, which noticed no less than 593 deaths.
In Chicago, opioid-related EMS calls decreased by 20% from 2023 to 2024, in accordance with town well being division. The pattern seems to be persevering with. Emergency calls had been down 24% within the first six months of 2025, in comparison with the identical interval in 2024.
