RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — Local recovery support groups are distributing an overdose-stopping drug to restaurants and bars across the Richmond area.
Jason Alley, the co-founder of the Richmond chapter of sobriety organization Ben’s Friends, is supplying bars and restaurants across the city with naloxone, an opioid overdose reversal medication.
“It replaces the opioid in the receptors, and they sometimes call it the Lazarus drug because it can really bring you right back,” Alley said.
Alley partnered up with John Freyer, who is involved with Rams in Recovery at VCU, for this new initiative.
Five employees at GWARbar in Richmond recently received hands-on training by Freyer, making the establishment one of the first in the city to train its workers on properly storing, carrying and administering naloxone on site.
“Put the applicator in the nostril, and then press the plunger totally and completely so we are getting as much of the naloxone that’s in that device into that nostril,” Freyer explained during the training on Friday afternoon.
For Alley, providing this resource to bar employees is especially personal. He has been in long-term recovery for alcohol use disorder for the past six years and wants to create a safe environment for others who experience a crisis.
“My whole life has been in restaurants and playing in bands. So, I’ve been surrounded by people who were susceptible to substance use disorder and I know people who’ve died from this,” he said. “Anything that we can do to save lives, that’s what we’re here for.”
This training comes at a time when the Virginia Department of Health reported fatal drug overdoses are one of the leading causes of unnatural deaths in the state.
Locally, Richmond and Henrico Health Districts and other local city and county agencies in the greater Richmond area rolled out the Metro Richmond spike alert in April 2022. The system notifies the general public when spikes in opioid overdoses happen.
“We’re seeing these overdoses in communities where we don’t always think about it,” Alley said. “It’s becoming, unfortunately, quite pervasive.”
Freyer said their mission and message is urgent to anyone who may be struggling with substance abuse.
“Every time we save someone’s life, we give them another chance, right? So, they can make a decision about what they want to do going forward,” he said.
Freyer plans on riding around on the Free Naloxone Bike handing out Narcan, the brand name for naloxone, during the 2ETS Community Day and CARITAS Annual Recovery Picnic on Saturday, July 15.
Ben’s Friends holds group meetings in person and online on Mondays at 10 a.m. at Penny Lane Pub.
