WHAT: August 31 is National Overdose Awareness Day. Naloxone, a lifesaving medication that can rapidly reverse an opioid overdose, can now be found at more locations at the University of Wisconsin–Madison.
Due to campus-wide interest, the university installed 13 additional Nalox-ZONE boxes this August in locations spanning from university residence halls to both Memorial Union and Union South. The first boxes were installed last fall in University Housing and University Dining locations. UW–Madison participates in Wisconsin Voices for Recovery’s Nalox-ZONE Program and now has 25 boxes that provide free access to the treatment.
WHY: Overdose deaths are the leading cause of preventable death among 18- to 45-year-olds. In recent years, deaths related to opioid misuse have grown significantly in Wisconsin and across the United States. Most of these deaths are related to fentanyl, a highly potent synthetic opioid, often among people who do not realize they have taken fentanyl, since it is often found mixed with other drugs, including cannabis, cocaine and in fake Percocet and Xanax pills. The Wisconsin Department of Health Services estimates that as many as 40 percent of counterfeit pills contain enough fentanyl to be lethal.
