Stark County is offering Narcan over-dose revival kits to opiate-addicted inmates who are released from the county jail.
Sheriff George Maier says Stark County’s health department is trying to get the potentially life-saving kits into the hands of high-risk individuals, and the jail is one place where they can be found.
“We know from statistical data that often times people who have an addiction to heroin or opiates who are incarcerated, there is a possibility of reoccurrence, and certainly overdose, when they first leave the jail.”
Maier says the kits are equipped with the nasal-spray form of Narcan, and inmates who get the kits are shown how to use it.
“There’s a training video. Plus, we will provide training to the families if they want it.”
Much of the funding for the Narcan distribution effort in Stark County is coming from federal and state sources.
