Opioid Crisis
Harm Reduction Resources Are Coming to All Insomniac Music Festivals
The nation’s preeminent electronic music festival organizer, Insomniac Events, has announced a partnership with End Overdose, an organization spreading awareness of the opioid crisis. End Overdose will now have a presence at all Insomniac festivals, according to the company’s CEO, Pasquale Rotella. The nonprofit will provide educational resources and safety supplies, including Narcan kits, to combat onsite opioid overdose. The kits can quickly reverse the effects of an opioid overdose by administering Naloxone, a synthetic drug that blocks opiate receptors in the nervous system. “Accidental deaths from opioids and fentanyl are happening in our schools, in our homes, at festivals & in our communities,” reads a statement issued by Rotella. “This is an issue ...
Free Narcan Kits to Be Distributed to New York Nightlife Establishments, Per New Legislation
It’s no secret that the opioid epidemic is worsening across the country. In New York City, where one resident dies of an overdose every three hours, the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) has teamed up with the Mayor’s Office of Nightlife for groundbreaking new legislation: distributing free anti-overdose kits to nightlife establishments across the state’s five boroughs. The hope, legislators said in a press release, is to combat accidental overdoses caused by pills or powders laced with fentanyl, a substance the United States Drug Administration found fatal doses of in 42% of pills they tested in 2021. Narcan, an anti-overdose agent that rapidly reverses the effects of an overdose, will be in each kit they provide to community nightlife hubs. “The frank real...
Free Narcan Kits to Be Distributed to New York Nightlife Establishments, Per New Legislation
It’s no secret that the opioid epidemic is worsening across the country. In New York City, where one resident dies of an overdose every three hours, the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) has teamed up with the Mayor’s Office of Nightlife for groundbreaking new legislation: distributing free anti-overdose kits to nightlife establishments across the state’s five boroughs. The hope, legislators said in a press release, is to combat accidental overdoses caused by pills or powders laced with fentanyl, a substance the United States Drug Administration found fatal doses of in 42% of pills they tested in 2021. Narcan, an anti-overdose agent that rapidly reverses the effects of an overdose, will be in each kit they provide to community nightlife hubs. “The frank real...
“We Are the Dork Side That Prevent People From Going to the Dark Side”: How Shambhala Is Pioneering Harm Reduction at Music Festivals
Between 1964 and 1975, an estimated 40,000 Americans crossed the border illegally into Canada, mostly to dodge the threat of being drafted to the military and the fear of combat in the Vietnam war. Some came due to the threat of imprisonment as President Nixon declared the “war on drugs” and addressed drug use as “public enemy #1.” A significant portion of these “draft dodgers” came to find a new home and Canadian diaspora in the Kootenay region of British Columbia and the central hub in the town of Nelson, per BC: An Untold History. The historic past and culture of challenging the definition of war and reducing harm is still very much alive in the Kootenay region. Shambhala Music Festival’s harm reduction culture and programs are a timely testament. EDM...
“Nobody Else Has To Die” Benefit Concert to Raise Overdose Awareness In Los Angeles
Fentanyl overdose is officially the single leading cause of death among young adults in the United States, according to the CDC, and on March 10th in Los Angeles, the dance music community is taking up arms. The aptly-titled “Nobody Else Has To Die” benefit concert will be hosted by End Overdose, a non-profit dedicated to combatting drug-related deaths via education and medical intervention training. Its lineup, curated by local promoter Restless Nites, will include DJ sets by Black Marble, Drab Majesty and Sextile as well as live performances by the likes of Madeline Goldstein and Aurat. Free fentanyl test strips and End Overdose merchandise will also be available at the concert, which is set to run from 8PM to 2AM at 1720 Warehouse LA. Overall, the event ...
This Collective Wants to Provide Lifesaving Overdose Treatment to All NYC Clubs
“It became clear to me in 2019 that we needed to start fighting the opioid crisis on a local level,” said dance music producer Lauren Flax in a recent press release. And fight she has—that year, she founded Last Night a Deejay Saved My Life, a New York City-based collective dedicated to fighting addiction in local nightlife. Alongside Danielle Pickering—a registered nurse at the LGBTQ-focused Callen-Lorde Community Health Center—and Dr. Julius Johnson of the National Black Nurses Association, Flax and the organization have hosted harm reduction classes and overdose response training. Now, their latest initiative seeks to train and provide New York-based DJs and bar staff with Narcan, a lifesaving drug that fights the effects of overdose. This push for accessibility ...
