What’s happening: Empty newspaper sales boxes – or honor boxes, as they’re sometimes called – are being repurposed at select sites in Mecosta and Osceola counties, providing free and safe access to Narcan, a life-saving medicine that quickly reverses the effects of opioid overdoses. The
Central Michigan Recovery and Education Network (CMREN) leads the program.
What it is: Dubbed the NaloxBox, the repurposed honor boxes are supplied with Narcan (Naloxone HCI), a nasal spray that acts as an antidote for Fentanyl, heroin, and other opioid overdoses. Administering Narcan to someone experiencing an overdose can be a live-saving act, and communities nationwide – urban, rural, and all points in between – are currently struggling with a rise in opioid use and the fallout that results.
Where to find them: “CMREN has provided boxes for Corewell Health, the Michigan College of Optometry Building [at Ferris State], the Big Rapids Community Library and the Osceola County Health Department offices in Reed City,” says CMREN project director Gail Bullard, a professor of Health Administration in Ferris State’s College of Health Professions. “A next step to protect our campus community will be to place ‘NaloxBox’ acrylic wall-mounted dispensers wherever there is an Automated External Defibrillator (AED) in place.”
How they’re doing it: The NaloxBox project is administered by CMREN, a federally-funded program at Ferris State University first established in 2019. A four-year, $1.2 million Rural Health Development grant from the Health Resources and Services Administration was accepted by the Ferris State Board of Trustees in June 2023, funding this particular project.
Why it’s important: “Narcan saves lives, which is so necessary due to the rise of opioid use, including drugs like Fentanyl, which continues across the country, through direct or unintended means,” Bullard says. “Our area is not immune and Naloxone being readily available is essential.”
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