AUSTIN, Texas — On Friday, the Austin Police Department released information about a series of overdoses that happened overnight in downtown Austin.
"We're definitely seeing a lot more overdoses. And it is a fentanyl crisis right now," Sgt. Tracy Gerrish with the APD Homicide Unit said in a Friday afternoon press conference.
It's a crisis some people struggle with every day.
"Drugs will always be around, and if you use it safely and are educated on what it is, I feel like that could be saving a lot more lives," Ana Granados, the services director with Texas Harm Reduction Alliance said.
Granados said there are resources available to prevent opioid overdoses.
"The Narcan that we have been distributing has been, like, saving hundreds of lives," Granados said.
Narcan, or Naloxone, is an antidote to an overdose. It usually comes in the form of a nasal spray.
Claire Zagorski, the program director and harm reduction instructor with Texas Opioid Training Initiative at the University of Texas at Austin said Narcan is an important tool.
"I like to compare it to a fire extinguisher. Hopefully, you're never going to need to use a fire extinguisher in your life. However, if you have a fire in your house, you really want it there," Zagorski said.
Narcan is available to everyone in Texas. Zagorski said it can be found at any pharmacy and that everyone should carry it.
"Even though Naloxone is not technically over-the-counter, it still has something like a legal carve-out in the state of Texas that allows anyone to carry it, even if they don't have a prescription from a doctor," Zagorski said.
In 2020 there were more than 90,000 drug overdose deaths in the U.S. In Texas, there were more than 4,000, according to the CDC. In Travis County, more than 260 people died to overdoses, which is a 36% increase from 2019.
Granados said telling people to simply stop using drugs is not the solution.
"Testing drugs and educating the community will be helping these folks on the streets a lot more," Granados said.
Advocates urge everyone to be armed with the tools that can save lives.
"This is our community and these are our neighbors. And if we have a simple, effective option to help save our neighbors lives, and we do, let's use it," Zagorski said.
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