Call for a trial of vending machines stocked with naloxone, clean needles and syringes

A Greens councillor wants vending machines in the Melbourne CBD to be stocked with syringes and naloxone – a medication used to reverse heroin overdoses.

People seen injecting heroin in a carpark in Little Collins St. Picture: Ian Currie

A Greens councillor at Town Hall is calling for vending machines stocked with clean needles, syringes and naloxone – a medication used to reverse heroin overdoses – to be installed in key city sites near the drug trade as part of a trial to help save lives.

Councillor Dr Olivia Ball has put up a motion for debate at the council’s meeting on Tuesday night that calls on the council and other levels of government to “improve access to naloxone in the Melbourne context”.

As part of her motion, Dr Ball said that in the City of Melbourne there should be a “trial providing dispensing machines in locations accessible 24 hours/day to freely dispense naloxone alongside clean needles and syringes and, potentially, fentanyl testing kits.”

“Many people who use drugs experience stigma and discrimination in pharmacies and other mainstream healthcare settings and would benefit from being able to access naloxone without having to enter a pharmacy or speak to a pharmacist. Providing 24-hour access to naloxone close to where overdoses are occurring is vital.”

Councillor Dr Olivia Ball says the trial would help save lives. Picture: David Crosling

Dr Ball states there were “24 heroin-involved deaths in the City of Melbourne in 2022”, which was the highest rate of any council area in the state.

“Naloxone should be readily available to people who use drugs, to their friends and family and should be carried by police on the streets of Melbourne,” Dr Ball said.

“Waiting for an ambulance can simply take too long.”

Dr Ball said that the deadly drug fentanyl was becoming more common on Melbourne streets and drug-users were often unaware they were consuming it as it was mixed with other illicit substances such as heroin and cocaine.

The motion also suggests authorising police and firefighters to carry naloxone to improve access to the drug for people who may be having an overdose.

Naloxone, a heroin overdose reversal agent. Picture: Alan Barber

“While paramedics routinely administer naloxone, police officers are often the first, and sometimes the only, emergency responders at the scene of an opioid overdose,” Dr Ball said.

“US research has found that when police carry naloxone, opioid overdose fatalities are significantly reduced.”

The motion also calls for Lord Mayor Sally Capp to lobby the Victorian health minister “urging the government to publish, implement and resource without delay final guidelines for approved services, and their trained staff, to provide naloxone.”

Naloxone is effective and easy to administer but cannot be used to get high.

The motion will be debated and voted on by councillors on Tuesday.