Vending

Bennington, Vermont to install Narcan vending machine

March 19, 2024

Bennington, Vermont plans to install a 24-hour Naloxone vending machine in June to help treat overdosing. The machine, which costs an estimated $11,000, will provided up to 360 doses of Narcan, which can be given to someone who overdosed on an opioid, according to a report by Bennington Banner.

The machine will be located outside the Greater Bennington Community Service entrance on Depot Street, and it will give out Narcan for free. Margea Diamond, executive director of Turning Point Recover Center, said that the machine was funded through a grant from the University of Vermont's Center of Rural Addiction.

"Narcan is available over the counter now," Diamond said in the report. "But it's $49.99. Our agreement with UVM covers building the machine, servicing and supplying it for a year, and then it's ours. The idea is to make this free and accessible to people on demand without having to ask for it. This drug reverses the effects of an overdose. In many cases, these people would have died."