Prevent Overdose

Harm reduction recognizes that people engage in drug-related behaviors that carry a risk of harm, including HIV and HCV infection, overdose, and sometimes death. Harm reduction approaches seek to limit and address these harms by providing person-centered supports. These include naloxone (overdose reversal medication), sterile syringes to limit needle-sharing and prevent the spread of infectious diseases, and other services that meet people where they are in their lives and recovery journeys. These evidence-based, life-saving strategies represent a key element of the public health response to drug use.

Drug use affects everybody in New York State—not just people who use drugs—and all of us have an important role to play in preventing and responding to overdoses and saving lives. On this page, you can:

  • Learn how you can reverse an opioid overdose;
  • Find overdose prevention trainings near you, or learn how to become a registered Opioid Overdose Prevention Program in New York;
  • Find a Syringe Service Program near you, and;
  • Order free syringes, harm reduction supplies, and drug checking test strips.

Recognize the signs of an overdose, how to use naloxone, and where to get naloxone

An overdose may look like slow or no breathing, pale or clammy skin, and not being able to wake someone up.

Naloxone (pronounced nah lock sone) is a safe medicine that can quickly reverse an opioid overdose. Anyone can use it. Spray naloxone in the person's nose and call 911 right away.

Watch how to recognize and respond to an overdose

You can order free naloxone and have it delivered.

New Yorkers can get free naloxone at Opioid Overdose Prevention Programs across the state. Opioid Overdose Prevention Programs are registered programs that offer community overdose training and naloxone at no cost.

To help you get naloxone at your local pharmacy, the Department of Health runs the Naloxone Co-Payment Assistance Program (N-CAP). Through N-CAP, most New Yorkers can get naloxone at little to no cost from participating pharmacies – ask your pharmacist!

Overdose prevention trainings

Find free trainings to learn how to prevent, respond to, and talk about overdoses in your community.

If you are an organization or a business, learn how to become a registered Opioid Overdose Prevention Program.

Need sterile syringes or other supplies? Visit a Syringe Service Program.

Syringe Service Programs provide free, confidential services to help people who use drugs stay healthy, and to prevent the spread of HIV and hepatitis. Syringe Service Programs offer sterile syringes, safe disposal, naloxone, health education, and connections to medical care and other support services.

You can order free syringes and harm reduction supplies and have them delivered.

Find a Syringe Service Program near you.

Need Test Strips?

When people buy drugs, they do not know what exactly is in the drugs they have purchased. Drugs are a mix of different chemicals; some are psychoactive, and others are added as filler to bulk up the package. When new substances are added to the mixture, problems can arise.

Test strips are a great tool to quickly check drugs for the presence of dangerous additives like fentanyl, xylazine and other substances. Test strips can alert people to hidden risk before using, helping people make safer choices and prevent overdoses.

Obtain a test strip to quickly check for the presence of fentanyl, xylazine and other substances in your drugs.

You can order free test strips and have them delivered.

Drug checking is a service that lets people test a small residual of a substance to find out what it really contains. This helps them make safer choices.

There are authorized Drug Checking Programs across the state. Find a Drug Checking Program near you.

To see what's in New York's drug supply, see our drug checking data.

Resources:

What Is Harm Reduction? (Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health)