Naloxone is now accessible 24/7 across Columbia.
The medication, which can reverse an opioid overdose, is now available at twelve public distribution boxes throughout town.
Columbia/Boone County Public Health & Human Services, in partnership with the Columbia Fire Department and Columbia Parks and Recreation, has been placing boxes throughout the city since October 2025.
Alec Mundle, a health educator at the health department, said the new boxes are an effort to further reduce barriers to the life-saving medication.
"The goal of our naloxone distribution program is to approach naloxone saturation, and that means having enough for every single person in the community — once or twice over."Alec Mundle, Columbia/Boone County Health & Human Services
“Overdose rates are coming down, but they're not zero. There's still a potential for you to come across a community member who's experiencing an overdose. We want you to be ready. Naloxone is super simple to use. It's very easy to carry,” Mundle said.
He said the use of naloxone by bystanders is an important part of preventing death and permanent brain damage from overdoses, as it decreases the amount of time an individual goes without oxygen.
“With a first responder, it can take, you know, four, five, six, seven minutes, and it can be even longer in the county,” Mundle said.
Mundle said the boxes were paid for with federal grant funding and they get their naloxone at no cost from the state. He said they expect very little in upkeep costs going forward and the department hopes to add additional distribution boxes.
Since the first distribution site went up in October, the health department has distributed nearly 400 boxes of naloxone.
“Naloxone itself, you know, it's a state priority, it's a federal priority, to achieve naloxone saturation,” Mundle said. “As long as we're seeing investment by our state government, by our federal government, we shouldn't have a problem with getting naloxone into people's hands.”
Concerns about sustainability of state investment in naloxone
Rachel Winograd is the Director of Addiction Sciences at the Missouri Institute for Mental Health at the University of Missouri-St. Louis. MIMH receives state funding to coordinate naloxone distribution throughout the state.
She said the current budget being proposed in the Missouri House would cut the state’s naloxone budget by $8 million – or 54%.
“We heard early last week,” Winograd said. “The line that was cut is dedicated to our first responder naloxone saturation efforts and training. So, we are talking about the free naloxone that goes to police, to sheriff's departments, to fire departments."
"We can't keep saving lives without this life-saving antidote. Is naloxone the end-all, be-all for the overdose crisis — absolutely not.
We also need to support access to treatment, recovery, prevention, community, connection — everything else that makes people's lives worth living, but if they're dead, they don't even have an opportunity to thrive."Rachel Winograd, Director of Addiction Sciences at UMSL
She said these funds were also used to provide no-cost naloxone to the Department of Corrections, juvenile officers, probation and parole.
Last year, this funding was used to provide nearly 600,000 naloxone doses to more than 800 front line agencies, as well as to train approximately 34,000 first responders.
And since the funding cut was discovered, she's heard from concerned law enforcement partners in rural parts of the state.
“Local agencies would have to make the impossible choice of funding their own naloxone, which could amount to tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars,” Winograd said. “Or, even more tragically, going without this life-saving antidote.”
She added that since tracking began in 2017, more than 7,500 overdose reversals have been reported by Missouri first responders.
“We must protect this backbone of our state's infrastructure of our response to the overdose crisis, and we cannot turn our backs on first responders and front line workers who often find themselves at the scene of an overdose event and have come to rely on naloxone to save a life," Winograd said.
The majority of state naloxone funding comes from opioid settlements.
The House is expected to vote on the proposed budget in the coming days. It will then go to the Senate.
