City of Monterey to install Narcan Now Boxes in an effort to save lives

MONTEREY, Calif. (KION-TV)- The Monterey Police Department announced on Wednesday the launch of Narcan Now Boxes which will be in three different locations throughout the city.

Those locations include the Monterey Transit Plaza, the Police Station at 351 Madison Street and Monterey Outreach and Navigation Center.

Officers said this is a collaborative effort between the city, Multi-Disciplinary Outreach Team (MDOT) and the Central Coast Overdose Prevention (CCODP) coalition to reduce and prevent further overdosing both in the state and regionally.

Monterey Police said that the Narcan Nasal Spray Now Boxes will allow free access to those experiencing an opioid overdose.

Preliminary figures from the California Department of Public Health in 2023 reveal a stark escalation from 2022, with the first half of the last year surpassing the totality of 2022, according to a press release from the Monterey Police Department.

The drug-related overdose deaths in the second quarter of last year reached 10,985, just shy of the 11,002 recorded for all of 2022 in the state of California.

In 2023, there were 109 deaths in the second quarter in Monterey County, which surpassed the total of 88 deaths in 2022.

Additionally, Police said that experts anticipate further increase in overdose-related deaths for both Monterey County and the state in general.

Narcan is an opiate antagonist that quickly reverses the effects of an opioid overdose.

Police said that Additional education, prevention resources and community outreach programs are available from the Central Coast Overdose Prevention Program—an overdose prevention coalition of care providers, nonprofit organizations and community members that serves the Monterey, San Benito and Santa Cruz Counties.

For more information on this program, you can email the program at contact@ccodp.org