The state is making available — at no cost — kits for treating a drug overdose, when minutes can make the difference between life and death.

The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services is providing free naloxone, medication that reverses opioid overdoses, at local health department offices across the state.

“Naloxone has already saved thousands of lives in Michigan, and we want to get this life-saving medication into as many hands as possible to help prevent overdose deaths,” Dr. Natasha Bagdasarian, chief medical executive, said in a news release. “Naloxone has played a critical role in the state’s decline in overdose deaths, including a 35% decrease since 2023. That’s not just a statistic, it’s our neighbors, our family members and our friends whose lives have been saved.” 

Increased investments in substance use disorder prevention, treatment, recovery and harm reduction have been made possible in large part due to opioid settlement dollars. Michigan is slated to receive more than $1.8 billion from national opioid settlements by 2040, with half being distributed to the State of Michigan Opioid Healing and Recovery Fund and the other half being distributed directly to county, city and township governments across the state. 

Michigan residents can go to their local MDHHS office during business hours to request free naloxone kits while supplies last. Naloxone is a stable medication and has proven to withstand a variety of storage conditions. It is easy to use, allowing anyone to respond to an overdose situation, and Michigan’s Good Samaritan Law protects anyone who administers naloxone, the news release advises.

Michigan has distributed more than 1.7 million naloxone kits and recorded more than 34,000 overdose reversals since the 2020 launch of Michigan’s Naloxone Direct Portal, an online portal on the state’s Naloxone page at https://www.michigan.gov/opioids/find-help/naloxone-page that provides the opioid overdose reversal medication at no charge to community groups.

Free naloxone kits can also be obtained at harm reduction agencies, vending machines, local pharmacies and via mail order.

For more information about SUD resources, go to Michigan.gov/SUD.