Amid a nationwide opioid and addiction crisis, Boulder Community Health is trying a new way of distributing harm-reduction supplies to the public: a vending machine.

BCH’s vending machine, which has been operating since October, is the first of its kind in Boulder County. It works much like any other vending machine where one could buy a bottle of soda or a snack, but it’s stocked with supplies like naloxone (Narcan), fentanyl and xylazine drug test strips, safe containers for needles, gun locks and safe sex supplies. These supplies are offered to the public at no cost.

Fentanyl and xylazine test strips can help users identify when drugs they’re using contain either fentanyl or xylazine. Fentanyl is a highly addictive opioid painkiller that is up to 100 times more potent than morphine and 50 times more potent than heroin, according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. It has worked its way into the street drug supply, and even a small amount of it can be deadly.

And xylazine, or “tranq,” is a non-opioid animal sedative also found in street drugs that, like fentanyl, has been connected with overdose deaths, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) states.

The machine at BCH also offers Ensure, a nutritional drink for people who may not be getting the nutrients they need from meals, potentially because of drug use or living on the streets. It does not offer sharps or pipes, although some vending machines elsewhere do offer them.

Visitors do not need a physician referral to access the supplies. The machine is open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Mondays through Fridays in the first-floor lobby of the Beacon Center for Infectious Diseases, 4800 Riverbend Road, Boulder.

Supplies in the vending machine are paid for by donations through BCH’s PILLAR Program, which offers education and service navigation for Boulder residents wanting to treat their chronic pain or substance use disorder without using narcotics.

Harm reduction is an evidence-based way to make risky behaviors, such as street drug use and unprotected sex, safer. Amanda Wroblewski, PILLAR Program coordinator, said it’s a common misconception that harm reduction encourages people to engage in these risky behaviors.

“All of the research that’s been done for decades now, at this point, really points to the exact opposite. It reduces rates of HIV and other STIs (sexually transmitted infection). It reduces rates of fatal overdose, and people that are connected with harm reduction services seek treatment in exponentially higher numbers,” she said.

“It’s certainly too much, I think, to ask for the pendulum to swing very far in any direction, but my hope is just that it makes people curious, and they can seek out some information and some resources.”

Wroblewski said a primary goal of the vending machine is to distribute Narcan, a medication that can quickly reverse overdoses from opioid drugs, and put harm reduction “at the forefront.” The machine is also intended to be easy for anyone to access. People can stop by and pick up supplies not only for themselves, but also for a friend or family member.

“It’s anonymous. It’s really low-barrier. … It may not be people who are active in use themselves or active in risk-taking behavior, but they know people that are,” she said.

So far, Narcan and Ensure have been the two most popular items in the vending machine, according to Wroblewski.

Harm-reduction vending machines have been used in Europe and other parts of the world for decades. They first came to Puerto Rico in 2009 and to the mainland U.S. in 2017. Since then, they have spread to other parts of the country.

The BCH vending machine has received $86,000 in funding for this year and next from settlement funds from pharmaceutical manufacturers and distributors that were found to have contributed to the opioid epidemic.

Late last year, Boulder County awarded a total of $3.95 million in opioid settlement dollars to community organizations that address opioid or substance use. The state of Colorado is expected to receive more than $787 million in opioid settlement funds, according to the Colorado Attorney General’s Office.

The Boulder Rotary Club and Clinica Family Health also worked with BCH to make the vending machine possible.

The University of Colorado Boulder has also received opioid funding for a harm-reduction vending machine on campus. A second vending machine will be funded by a donor contribution, according to a university spokesperson.