Chicago health officials opened up five public health vending machines throughout the city beginning on Friday, with an array of necessities from Narcan and drug testing strips to personal hygiene products available.
All items inside the vending machines are free, and aim to help Chicagoans struggling with opioid addiction.
The vending machines have been introduced as part of a pilot program that brings life-saving supplies to public areas in neighborhoods with high overdose rates.
For Robert Banks, who lost his 22-year-old grandson to an opioid overdose, said the measure helps him and others save lives.
"It's hardly a day go by that I don't think about it, and I talk about him a lot," Banks told NBC Chicago. "I was not able to save my grandson, but I have saved hundreds of other lives and I continue to save lives."
Banks works with a community outreach intervention project operated by the University of Illinois-Chicago and carries Narcan with him everywhere he goes.
In addition to Narcan and drug testing strips that help individuals determine if fentanyl is present in drugs they have acquired, hygiene kits, socks and underwear are also available inside the machines.
The five vending machines are operating in the following locations:
- Uptown Library - 929 West Buena Avenue
- Garfield Community Service Center - 10 South Kedzie Avenue
- Harold Washington Library Center - 400 South State Street, 3rd floor
- 95th/Dan Ryan CTA station - 14 West 95th Street
- Roseland Community Triage Center - 200 East 115th Street
More information on the pilot program can be found here.
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