1st free Narcan vending machine in Alabama comes to Walker County

PARRISH, Ala. ( WIAT ) — Walker County is setting the standard with a new naloxone vending machine. It’s the first of its kind in the state.

The free Narcan vending machine offers two kinds of naloxone products: the nasal spray and an intramuscular injection.

“This is about loving your neighbors and keeping them alive,” said Ryan Cagle, co-director of the nonprofit Jubilee House Community.

Called a “miracle drug,” naloxone can be used to reverse overdoses from opioid drugs. In Parrish, people can come up to the vending machine, punch in the number for the medicine and have it in their hands for free and ready for use.

“It seems like there is a literal wildfire going on, and most people with the ability to turn on the hoses are just standing by and letting it happen,” Cagle said.

Jubilee House Community said Walker County is one of the hardest hit places in the country in the opioid epidemic. Over the last three years, overdose deaths in Walker County have increased at a rapid rate. Jubilee House said deaths rose from 388 in 2021 to 504 in 2022 and 612 last year. During January and February of 2024, Jubilee House said there have been 83 overdose deaths in the county.

“There’s going to be people who don’t understand it, who think it’s enabling,” Cagle said. “There’s going to be people who think it’s not a good thing to have, but I think ultimately for the majority of our community and Walker County are going to be people who see this as a positive because at the end of the day, people are dying left and right in our community, and this is one of the only ways to prevent that from happening in our community.”

Parrish Mayor Bubba Cagle said he wants to help other cities get these set up and save as many lives as possible.

“Everybody deserves a chance, and every time we’re giving them, we’re saving a life that we’re giving them another chance,” Bubba Cagle said. “Another birthday, another kid’s birthday, another event, another time that their mom gets to see them, and another chance to get clean.”

Jubilee House hopes to see this concept spread like wildfire throughout the state with more Narcan vending machines going to communities in need.

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