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Phoenix to give out free opioid overdose-reversal medication Narcan at public libraries
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this post was submitted on 17 Aug 2023
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I think it's just because American cities often don't have community centers other than libraries. Libraries already host music concerts, society meetings, naturalization events, English classes, and other things unrelated to books; it's not such a stretch to see them providing this sort of thing as a public service too.
I totally agree, but we don't ask other public services to do that. Not do I think we should, but why not make it available at City Hall. If you as a community want to help these people, and have agreed to provide public services to a specific problem, why not lean into it. A single social worker in an office at City Hall could probably handle this better than people who preserve our public knowledge.
I understand the likely hesitation of people in need of something like narcan going to a place like city hall for fear of getting arrested, but if you're providing public funds and services to help someone why would you arrest them for accessing this resource just because a law enforcement officer happened to see them on their way to get assistance?
Good points. I see what you mean about going the whole hog and helping people at a community center dedicated for just that, helping people.
My initial response was that a social worker's skills are not necessary if the job is just to hand out anti-overdose medication, but then I realized that they could be useful for providing more help for these people, not just preventative drugs (which is great! but no one beat an addiction using more drugs).