Activists are turning the spotlight on the night scene and drug overdoses with a free webinar.
“Fentanyl at Night,” is the name of a free webinar aimed at informing nightlife business owners, event producers and community leaders about stopping overdoses in the nightlife scene.
“It’s going to talk about how fentanyl is going to affect people in that environment and what we can do about it and be proactive,” said Nathan Smiddy, who also goes by Narcan Nate. He distributes Narcan kits and fentanyl test strips in the community and will be one of the webinar speakers.
Smiddy said drugs on the night scene are more common than people think and being prepared can save someone’s life.
“People don’t want to admit it, but if you have a restaurant, (or) you have a bar, (or) if you have a club, people are going to use drugs in your establishment,” Smiddy said. “Sometimes these drugs have fentanyl in them and sometimes the consumer doesn’t know it, a lot of times the dealer doesn’t know it.”
Smiddy said the webinar is about being proactive. He has been working to get the cancellation and overdose prevention boxes into every facility interested in them.
“You’d rather have naloxone on hand and save someone’s life wouldn’t you?” he asked, describing what can happen to businesses without kits: “And then your bar, your restaurant, closes, you have a crime scene, an investigation, and someone just lost their life.”
Director of Marketing Brittany Leach has worked in the Hillcrest nightclub scene for over a decade.
“Like every bar and club in every decade, drugs have always been around. But this fentanyl crisis that’s just dawned—at least it feels like it—is much heavier, rougher, and faster than anything else. . I’ve never seen inside our community before,” she said. “It definitely feels like we should be in crisis mode.”
Leach said many business owners he works with are aware of drug overdose problems and have taken the time to train their staff in overdose recovery.
“You don’t have to be a junkie for it to affect you,” she said. “This is everywhere now, and so I know a lot of our community has taken the time to go to training on what to do with overdoses. We’re trying to put Narcan in as many of our facilities as we can, and train the staff and make sure they understand how to use it.”
But many businesses don’t want to offer naloxone for fear of being labeled a drug site. Leach said this is a stereotype that needs to be reversed.
“You have to be honest with what’s going on, and it’s everywhere, and the best thing we can do is be prepared. That’s it. We’re not playing around, blaming anybody or anything. The most the good we can do is provide help and answers,” Leach said.
The Fentanyl at Night Webinar is open to the public and will take place on Wednesday at 1:00 pm Registration information can be found here.
