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Using drugs alone is a major risk. Don't have a loved one, friend, or neighbor to be present with you? There are safe, private, and reliable programs available to help.
Never Use Alone is a free-to-use national hotline for people who use drugs while alone. You can call them at 1-(877)-696-1996. Never Use Alone’s peer operators are available 24-hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. They offer overdose prevention, detection, life-saving crisis response and medical intervention services. Their motto embodies their work- "No stigma. No judgment. Just love!"
Brave Tech Co-Op is another organization with tools and resources so you never have to use a drug alone. Their Brave App connects people who would otherwise use drugs alone with remote supervision and overdose support, while protecting their privacy, anonymity, and autonomy. No judgment. Just love.
The chance of death from an accidental overdose is dramatically reduced by testing.
The SOAR Initiative is an amazing organization that will send fentanyl test strips and xylazine test strips wherever you are in Ohio. The test stips are free and discreetly shipped. The SOAR Initiative also sends out bad batch alerts, so you can stay notified when there is an overdose spike or when contaminated drugs are found in your area.
Remember, testing drugs is not always 100% accurate. Street drugs that are cut aren't often uniformly mixed. Think of testing drugs like a chocolate chip cookie. You might test a part of the cookie, no chocolate chips. But a different part of the cookie could still easily have a chocolate chip. This reinforces why one should never use a drug alone, and why we should all carry naloxone.
Naloxone, known widely by its brand-name Narcan, is a life-saving opioid overdose reversal tool. It comes in nasal spray and intramuscular injection (IV) varieties.
Harm Reduction Ohio will send free naloxone to wherever you are in Ohio. They offer trainings on when and how to administer it. They have both naloxone types available, and you can even request fentanyl test strips from them in the comment section of your order.
Project DAWN (Deaths Avoided with Naloxone) is a network of naloxone and fentanyl test strip distribution programs that provide opioid overdose education and harm reduction services coordinated by the Ohio Department of Health. They can point you to your local provider of naloxone here.
Another reason why never to use alone- even if you think you have ninja-like reflexes, it is impossible for to use naloxone on yourself while overdosing. Finally, it is best practice to carry multiple units of naloxone. With the danger and potency of the drug supply greater than ever, it often takes more than one shot of naloxone to effectively reverse an overdose.
Ready for your fix of fear-free, facts-based information on every drug out there?
Drugs.me is the go-to source for straightforward, no-nonsense advice on drug use. They believe that open dialogue, rather than stigmatisation, is key to reducing risks for society’s most vulnerable. Their mission is to challenge the status quo by spearheading informed conversations about drug use and harm reduction.
