Missouri's federal funding for Narcan has ended even as overdoses escalate

From January 2019 to January 2020, 1,597 Missourians died from overdoses. Over the next 12 months, that number increased to 1,952, according to CDC data. However, a federal grant to help Missouri purchase and distribute naloxone has expired.
Since 2016, the state of Missouri has relied on a federal grant to help purchase and distribute naloxone, often known as Narcan, a life-saving treatment that can reverse potentially fatal overdoses. That grant has expired, leaving treatment providers without a centralized resource to turn to for the medicine.

With no long-term replacement for the money, providers say the loss of some of Missouri’s Narcan resources could worsen the state’s drug overdose crisis. In 1999, the rate of drug overdoses that ended in death was 5%. By 2020, the rate increased to 32.1%.