If you use drugs
Call 911 (or your local emergency response number) if you witness or experience an overdose. The Good Samaritan Overdose Protection Act will protect those involved from drug possession charges or breach of probation/pre-trial release charges.
- Get naloxone and overdose training before using – bring a friend
- Be aware that benzodiazepines don’t respond to naloxone.
- Do not use drugs alone or behind a locked door. Have a designated responder: Stagger use with friends so someone can respond/call 911 if needed.
- If you are using alone consider calling the National Overdose Prevention Hotline at 1−888−688−6677, where you will be connected to a safe consumption volunteer who stays on the line for 15 – 30 minutes while you use the substance.
- Use a less direct route when you take drugs. Injecting a drug is the most direct and dangerous route.
- If you mix drugs, reduce the amount of each drug you take and use opioids before benzos or alcohol. Use the most unpredictable drug first.
- Use one drug at a time, test your drugs every time by doing a smaller than usual test amount first.
- Wait before taking another dose – some drugs take longer to take effect
- The amount of naloxone in a take-home kit may not be enough to reverse very powerful overdoses, such as those caused by fentanyl-like drugs.
- If you inject do not share any injection equipment (needles, cookers, filters, rinse). Sterile drug use supplies are available from many places.
- If interested in our drug alerts, please sign up.
For community agencies:
The Safer Bathrooms Toolkit provides resources to assess and respond to the potential risk of drug toxicity events within facility bathrooms.