Justin Moore - Butte-Glenn Medical Society Drug Abuse Prevention Task Force

I'm Justin Moore, the AmeriCorps VISTA at the Butte Glenn Opioid Safety Coalition located in Northern California. From an academic, professional, and personal perspective, overdose prevention and harm reduction are topics that have shaped me to be the person I am. My host site is a coalition that covers the two counties of Butte and Glenn, comprised of about 30 partners from healthcare providers, social services, and community members that promote support and treatment for people who use drugs and the people who love them.  

One of our largest accomplishments is the success of our Community Overdose Prevention Efforts program. This is a workgroup made up of over 40 partners that have taken the steps to get trained on responding to an overdose, have naloxone on site, and/or distribute kits to community members. Since the start of our program in April 2023, the group has handed out over 26,000 doses of 4mg nasal naloxone. Along with this front facing service we also collect and track zip codes and ages of the people getting naloxone to ensure that we are equitably targeting areas that have the highest rates of overdoses. As we have continued to work to connect and reach more rural communities within our region, we have made great progress with unconventional naloxone partners like smoke shops, bars, and individual community members. Within our program we also have created an overdose prevention internship for CSU Chico public health and nursing students to gain experience and an understanding of harm reduction and substance use related work.