'Bridging the gap': Nonprofit dispenses free Narcan through Carlisle Police Department

On Aug. 12, Jessica Miller set up a table in the Carlisle Police station fully stocked with free Narcan.

Since then, more than 200 doses have flown off the shelf and into the hands of residents.

By Miller's calculations, that could mean up to 200 lives saved.

Miller is the director of communications and director of Cumberland and Dauphin programs for the RASE Project , a recovery organization dedicated to providing services for people in or seeking recovery from substance use disorders.

Everyone who works at the nonprofit is also in recovery.

"I'm very passionate about bridging the gap between law enforcement and drug and alcohol services and recovery, just simply because I used to work in law enforcement," Miller said. "I became addicted to drugs while working in law enforcement, and something I know is that when I was struggling with my addiction, I felt like I had nobody to talk to. I had no help. I don't ever want somebody to feel that way again."

Since getting involved with the RASE Project, she's seen a local need for accessible Narcan.

Luray Schlegel, Carlisle's co-responder who works with the police department to connect community members with available services, estimates that approximately 40% of her referrals would benefit from Narcan.

Miller began discussions with a Carlisle officer about how to meet that need, eventually landing on the table.

Located in the station's lobby, the table contains free Narcan, drug test strips for fentanyl and xylazine, and Deterra bags , which allow excess drugs to be dissolved and disposed of safely.

While the items are stocked by the RASE Project, they're funded through state opioid settlement dollars.

The Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency receives these funds and provides Narcan and drug test strips to several recognized treatment centers and entities like the RASE Project.

This allows Miller to order the products from the commission and provide them for free.

Ashli Rudy, the RASE Project's outreach, advocacy and education specialist and Cumberland County Department of Corrections program supervisor, said the table at the police station allows access to Narcan beyond what the RASE Project can provide.

"We are a distributor of Narcan, but we're only open from eight to four Monday through Friday," she said. "So if someone calls on a Saturday and they want it, our hands are kind of tied until we go back to work."

The police station table allows community members access to Narcan and the other products 24/7.

Based on her experiences, Miller doesn't believe it's people in active addition have have been taking the products from the police station. She thinks it's friends or family members of people battling addiction or business owners who want to keep Narcan on hand.

"I think this is for the mom who her child is using and she doesn't know where to turn," Miller said. "I think this is for the business owner who owns a construction company who his guys are on Percocet. I think it's for that type of community."

Both she and Rudy know all too well how important Narcan can be; without it, they likely wouldn't be alive.

As for the drug test strips, Miller said they can help someone using drugs know what's in them so they can take necessary precautions to avoid an overdose.

"People are dying at a rapid rate, and it's unacceptable," she said. "So what we're trying to do is keep people alive [and] give them the opportunity to say, 'You know what, I don't want to live like this anymore,' and find recovery."

Some might argue that the RASE Project's measures enable addiction.

While the notion is common, Miller disagrees.

"People are going to use drugs regardless if there's Narcan," she said. "Narcan just saves their lives and gives them the ability to hopefully find recovery."

"The only thing Narcan enables is breathing," Rudy said, adding that every life matters, whether the person has received Narcan one time or 15 times.

One day, Miller hopes to see it in every church, police station, business or other entity.

With the Carlisle Police Department's table in full swing, she's not sure what comes next in achieving that goal, though she's open to other law enforcement distribution sites.

In the meantime, she'll continue stocking the table she sees as a bridge between law enforcement and community members.

"It's a really great thing," Miller said. "It's like a step in the right direction."

Maddie Seiler is a news reporter for The Sentinel and cumberlink.com covering Carlisle and Newville. Love

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