The machine, now located in the Jackson Medical Mall, is stocked with 250 doses of the opioid overdose reversal drug. It’s available 24/7 and free to use, in the hopes it will serve as a tool to decrease opioid overdose deaths in Jackson.
This is the fourth of these vending machines installed through Fund Recovery's “Tackle Overdose Now” campaign, but the first in Mississippi. Jeffery Simmons, defensive tackle for the Tennessee Titans and a spokesperson for the campaign, said his Mississippi roots inspired him to select the Jackson Medical Mall as a hosting site.
Naloxone blocks the receptors in the brain that opioids bind to for 30 to 90 minutes, often granting enough time to get someone who’s overdosed the medical attention they need to survive.
Primus Wheeler, executive director of the Jackson Medical Mall Foundation, said some have reacted negatively to the machine's presence, but he thinks it will improve health outcomes in the capital city.
“We've got to stop stigmatizing things that folks are doing to try to help folks overcome and recover,” Wheeler said. “If you can save some lives by having this available to stop that episode when it happens, it can do nothing but be positive.”
Provisional data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show a 34 to 36% decline in opioid-related overdose deaths between 2023 and 2024, and experts credit widespread naloxone availability as a major factor in the historic drop.
The vending machine also comes at a pivotal time for the Jackson Medical Mall, as the University of Mississippi Medical Center is in the process of relocating many of the clinical services it housed there. Wheeler said they’re bringing in new providers to fill the empty space, and new partnerships like this one help show their commitment to the Jackson community.
“A lot of times folks with skills and money and opportunities to invest, they go to other ZIP codes, but we've decided to stay in this ZIP code and change the outcomes here,” Wheeler said. “And this machine gives us a lot of visibility.”
Mississippi ranks among the top states for opioid prescriptions and opioid overdose deaths per capita.
