Naloxone vending machine installed in the Middlesex Jail and House of Corrections

By CHRISTIAN MAITRE
Waltham Times Contributing Writer

A vending machine dispensing naloxone, a medication that can reverse opioid overdoses, has been installed in the visitors center of the Middlesex Jail and House of Corrections.

The machine is free to use and distributes 4 mg doses of the drug that can be administered through nasal spray. Naloxone is commonly known by the brand names Narcan and Evzio.

According to Middlesex County Sheriff Peter Koutoujian, the machine is for anyone who needs access to naloxone, for example, the families of individuals incarcerated at the Middlesex Jail who may have financial barriers that prevent them from purchasing naloxone at the pharmacy.

The machine collects demographic data about individuals who use the machine through an optional survey.

Koutoujian said the machine has dispensed more than 30 doses of the medication since it was installed on Dec. 9.

“What we’re doing is removing a barrier of access to care,” he said.

Koutoujian, a Waltham resident, became interested in installing a vending machine in the facility he oversees as sheriff after seeing a similar machine in the lobby of the Las Colinas Detention Facility in California while speaking at an event for the National Institute of Corrections last March.

A focus on harm reduction

To Koutoujian, this machine is part of a shift in how correctional facilities view addiction and the opioid crisis.

Koutoujian explained that recidivism rates, or the likelihood that a person would repeat criminal behavior, have been the primary metric that correctional facilities use to measure success.

But Koutoujian decided to focus more on harm reduction after a report by the Massachusetts Department of Health showed that individuals with histories of incarceration were 120 times more likely to die of an overdose.

It is difficult to accurately quantify opioid-related deaths by county; however, for scale, Middlesex is the most populous county in the state.

Massachusetts did release numbers showing Middlesex County as having the highest decrease in opioid-related deaths from 2022 to 2023 at 20.8%. 

However, these numbers are preliminary and based on estimates rather than confirmed deaths. 

The machine is completely funded by the U.S. Justice Department through a Comprehensive Opioid, Stimulant and Substance Use Program grant.

The cost of maintaining and stocking the machine depends on how much naloxone the sheriff’s office needs to purchase to replenish it, said Kevin Maccioli, the sheriff’s director of media relations and public information. However, the office anticipates the program will cost $4,000 annually.

Middlesex County Jail holds individuals awaiting trial for crimes within the county, which includes Waltham, as well as individuals serving sentences of up to 2 1⁄2 years.