Photo by Graham MacIndoe
Vital Strategies Narcan training
Vital Strategies Narcan training
Milwaukee radio personalities are raising awareness about opioid overdose deaths in Black communities through an ongoing campaign promoting the use of naloxone to help save lives. Facilitated as a joint effort between global health organization Vital Strategies’ Overdose Prevention Program and the City of Milwaukee Office of African American Affairs, the campaign was launched in August and runs through November.
Radio hosts Earl Stokes and Don Black of Jammin’ 98.3, Promise of AUDACY Radio/105.7 and Reggie Brown of V100.7 FM are participating. The campaign comes as a response to the rising fatal overdoses among Black people in Milwaukee County, which increased by 52 percent between 2020 and 2021, according to the Milwaukee County Medical Examiner.
“A lot of people aren’t aware of this,” Vital Strategies Digital Strategist and Senior Manager Gloria Malone explains. “In Milwaukee specifically, we were finding that people think that overdoses occur mostly with people who aren’t actually from the city but the statistics show us that’s not true. We wanted to do a campaign that specifically reaches Milwaukee’s Black population.”
Harm Reduction Strategy
Vital Strategies had done a statewide campaign in Michigan about harm reduction, where a resident suggested that they bring their work to the airwaves. A talent broker helped the organization get in touch with Milwaukee radio stations that could appeal to an intergenerational audience. Malone adds, “People really have a connection to their local radio stations and talent so we decided to try it out.”
Naloxone, also known by its brand name Narcan, is a medication that reverses opioid effects and comes in both injectable and nasal spray form. As part of Vital Strategies’ campaign, the radio hosts are both raising awareness about the issue and directing listeners to local resources.
Malone affirms that naloxone is necessary for everyone to carry, not just those who use drugs, saying, “Bus drivers, teachers, grocery workers, liquor store clerks, everyone should have it on hand. Unfortunately, dying from an overdose tends to bring a lot of shame for the families because of the stigma around drug use, which then brings a lot of silence. Politicians may think that silence means we’re agreeing with the incarceration and policing, but if we talk about this issue in an actionable way with an alternate health-based solution, then elected officials will have no choice but to meet us there.”
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Vital Strategies Senior Technical Advisor Adrienne Hurst emphasizes the importance of approaching the overdose crisis as a public health issue and not as a criminal issue. “Locking up people who take drugs doesn’t save lives,” she notes. “The War on Drugs hasn’t worked, yet our country continues to spend billions on jails and prisons while there’s bad policies like drug-induced homicide sentences.”
Milwaukee Overdose Deaths
A recent report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) indicates that Milwaukee County has the eighth highest number of overdose deaths per 100,000 people in the country. The report also mentions that fentanyl was involved in 81 percent of the county’s overdose deaths in 2022.
“There are harm reduction solutions available to us if we remain steadfast and committed to not treating each other in ways in which policing has taught us to,” Malone maintains. “Everyone deserves health and dignity.”
A recent Nielsen report found that the overdose prevention campaign is reaching 90 percent of Milwaukee County’s Black population ages 35-64. “These deaths are preventable,” Hurst concludes. “Our state governments need to invest more in harm reduction now.”
The Office of American Affairs provides a list of places in Milwaukee to access naloxone here. Vital Strategies is supporting Samad's House to increase community naloxone distribution on Milwaukee's North Side as well as Milwaukee’s Northside Harm Reduction Coalition in their strategic community efforts in preventing overdose deaths as well, plus they have partnered with organizations like Legal Action of Wisconsin and Clean Slate MKE. Additionally, MKE Overdose Prevention both supplies Narcan and provides free training for administering it safely and effectively.
