ST. LOUIS 鈥 One year after a mass overdose event killed seven people at Parkview Apartments in the Central West End, a leader of an effort to curb the opioid epidemic in Missouri said they can鈥檛 even give away naloxone at the huge public housing complex.
鈥淲e thought there would be some momentum for at least ground zero of the event to be a wake-up call,鈥 said Rachel Winograd, co-director of the state opioid response grant. 鈥淲e can have all the money in the world for naloxone, but if people won鈥檛 accept it, then it can鈥檛 do any good.鈥
Naloxone is used to reverse opioid overdoses. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that the 鈥渓ife-saving medication鈥 be easily available for those who need it. Narcan, the nasal spray variety, typically comes in a two-dose white box. Settlement funds with opioid manufacturers are being used to distribute Narcan into communities statewide.
People are also reading…
But some don鈥檛 express interest.
鈥淥ur teams and community partners have made multiple assertive attempts to engage with Parkview Apartments management and have received no response,鈥 Winograd said.
Between Feb. 5 and Feb. 7, 2022, at Parkview or in the immediate area; seven of them fatally. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration later listed Parkview in a about a nationwide increase in mass-overdose events, stating that many of the victims thought they were using cocaine and 鈥渉ad no idea that they were in fact ingesting fentanyl.鈥
Parkview resident Chuny Ann Reed faced federal crimes stemming from the incident in 狐狸视频. She later died in custody.
Jah-Kayla Moore, president of the tenant advisory board at Parkview, a 14-story, 295-unit fortress at 4451 Forest Park Avenue, recently showed the Post-Dispatch just one box of Narcan on hand. It had two doses.
鈥淲e are in the midst of the addiction,鈥 she said. 鈥淚t does weigh on the people of the building because we have to live with that. We have a couple sets of Narcan or whatever. You know how people are. They will take the stuff and not use it.鈥
Front desk security said they will call 911 if somebody overdoses. They don鈥檛 have access to Narcan.
Parkview is owned by the Housing Authority of 狐狸视频 and managed by the Habitat Company of Missouri. Site manager David Jackson did not respond to requests for comment in recent weeks. There has been management turnover at the Parkview. Jackson鈥檚 assistant said Jackson started in December.
On Monday morning, he wasn鈥檛 in his office, perhaps because it was a busy weekend, with a stabbing incident and clogged pipes on two floors. Numerous ceiling tiles were already missing in the main floor lobby and hallway. One section smelled like an old water leak.
鈥淭his is the projects in the middle of the Central West End,鈥 said Shonda King, 38, raising a 5-year-old son at Parkview.
She said several of the people who died in the mass overdose event didn鈥檛 live in the building. She said a new security company does a better job. Still, she tries to stay out of the stairwells, but the elevators often break down. Sure, she said, it would be smart to have Narcan around.
鈥淭here鈥檚 so much stuff that goes on,鈥 she said.
Alana Green, director of the Housing Authority of 狐狸视频, recently directed questions about Narcan distribution at public housing properties like Parkview to a spokeswoman. In prepared remarks, the housing authority said it doesn鈥檛 have lease restrictions that prohibit residents from having naloxone in their homes. The housing authority said it was exploring a partnership with PreventEd to offer substance abuse prevention education and resources, including access to free Narcan.
鈥淭he health and safety of our residents is a key priority. The 狐狸视频 Housing Authority supports the community and our partners鈥 efforts in preventing drug abuse and misuse.鈥
Tina Pihl, alderwoman of the 17th Ward, said Monday that she鈥檚 frustrated that Narcan isn鈥檛 inside Parkview yet, but that she鈥檚 been trying to pull the community together. She said she didn鈥檛 have a relationship with apartment management and instead was in communication with the housing authority.
鈥淭hey are working out some things regarding getting that into the facility,鈥 she said.
While Narcan isn鈥檛 widely available for free at Parkview, a pharmacy next door sells it for $118 for the same two-dose box.
Winograd said the state and its community partners are using opioid settlement funds to expand naloxone distribution and increase education efforts. In 2022, they distributed 84,287 naloxone kits statewide, half of it in the 狐狸视频 region. The group plans to distribute 173,791 kits in 2023. Their budget increased from $6.2 million to $8.3 million, and the wholesale cost of the kits has fallen from $75 to $47.50.
Parkview isn鈥檛 the only place that hasn鈥檛 opened its doors. For instance, despite numerous overdoses in Missouri prisons, correctional officers still don鈥檛 carry naloxone. Tim Cutt, director of the Missouri Corrections Officers Association, said in October that staff don鈥檛 want to carry the overdose reversing drug because 鈥渋t could increase their liability if something went wrong.鈥
Winograd said initial meetings have been held with the Department of Corrections aimed at allowing everyone leaving a Missouri prison access to a free box of Narcan.
Corey Davis, director of the Harm Reduction Legal Project at the Network for Public Health Law, said by telephone from Los Angeles that there is still a stigma associated with naloxone partly because it used to be administered by needle.
鈥淥pinions are sticky, and it takes a while to change people鈥檚 minds,鈥 Davis said.