Program offering free naloxone from Oklahoma vending machines comes to abrupt end

OKLAHOMA CITY – State mental health officials are abruptly pulling the plug on a vending machine initiative designed to provide Oklahomans access to overdose-prevention medications and testing strips. 

The 25 vending machines offering free naloxone and fentanyl test strips will be removed from their locations by the end of the month, the Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse said in a statement Friday. 

The agency said it began placing vending machines in May 2023, but has determined the program was not cost effective and did not deliver positive enough results. 

“After reviewing the financial implications, data, and overall outcomes, it has become evident that the program has not proven to be cost-effective, nor has it consistently delivered the positive results we had hoped for,” said Allie Friesen, commissioner of the agency. 

The Mental Health Department reported that 47,604 naloxone kits were distributed through the vending machines in 2023. The agency shipped 148,886 naloxone kits and 108,306 fentanyl test strips through its mail-out program in the same year. 

Last summer, the agency, which was under different leadership at the time, heralded its new initiative, which was supposed to place vending machines in “strategic zip code locations where overdose prevalence” was high. Oklahoma officials said it would be the largest such effort in the nation.

The campaign was intended to address the opioid crisis, focusing on reducing “accidental overdoses in Oklahoma through education, awareness, and providing resources.” Naloxone reverses and blocks the effects of opioids, while fentanyl test strips detect the presence of fentanyl in various substances. 

The agency spent about $300,000 to purchase 42 vending machines, but ultimately didn’t place all of them, officials said Friday.

Alex McGowan Rayburn, board president of Shred the Stigma, said she was “saddened by the phasing out of this innovative approach to distributing Naloxone and fentanyl test kits, especially the added anonymity of vending machines.”

The Oklahoma City group aims to end drug-related harm by providing resources and supplies.

“This change in service is not a failure of harm reduction but a reminder that mutual aid is the most effective way to reach our neighbors,” she said. “Rural communities face the greatest challenges in the overdose crisis, as they have less access to supplies and more people are using alone.”

Shred the Stigma will continue its own mail-out program with supplies provided by the Mental Health Department.

In place of the vending machines, state mental health officials plan to hang marketing posters with QR codes offering information on the agency’s mailing program which will allow products to be delivered directly to individuals at their homes.

“Overdose education and naloxone distribution is a core strategy to reduce opioid overdose deaths in Oklahoma … By adopting this revised strategy, we aim to provide a more effective and efficient experience for everyone involved,” said Andrea Hamor Edmondson, senior prevention program manager for the agency.