In 2021 and 2022, harm reduction organizations in two Massachusetts cities tried out a novel approach: paying people who use drugs, in cash, to distribute Narcan in their personal circles.
The study, funded by the National Institutes of Health, found the method used in Gloucester and Holyoke to be “feasible,” extending the reach of the life-saving opioid reversal drug by supporting peers’ “dignity” with monetary value for their overdose prevention efforts.
