New vending machine helps people with addiction
UC expert featured in Spectrum News report
The University of Cincinnati's Daniel Arendt was featured in a Spectrum News report on a new harm reduction vending machine installed at the IPM Food Pantry in partnership with the Hamilton County Mental Health and Recovery Services Board.
IPM Food Pantry President Melissa Meyer said the placement of the machine directly at the food pantry helps address the community's immediate needs in a place they already are.
"[People] might be scared to seek out addiction treatment or go to a clinic because of the stigma associated with it or reach out and ask for help," said Arendt PharmD, assistant professor in UC’s James L. Winkle College of Pharmacy and co-chair of the pain stewardship committee for UC Health.
Arendt has partnered with local nonprofit Caracole since 2021 when the organization installed the area's first harm reduction vending machine. His research has found the machines increase accessibility of harm reduction supplies in the community.
This includes naloxone, the drug that can reverse opioid overdoses. The research has found naloxone accessed at just the one Caracole vending machine have directly reversed thousands of overdoses.
Watch or read the Spectrum News story.
Featured photo at top of bottles of injectable naloxone. Photo/iStock/PowerofForever.
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