COLUMBUS, Ohio — At ComFest in Columbus, you’ll find a little bit of everything, but between the lemonade stands and art vendors, there’s a booth with an important message and a practical souvenir.
William Perry and his wife, Ingela, spent the weekend handing out Kloxxado, a nasal spray with a higher dose of naloxone than Narcan, that can be used in an emergency to reverse the effects of an opioid overdose.
Their nonprofit, This Must Be The Place, receives the medication for free from the Ohio Department of Health and Hikma Pharmaceuticals, which is based in Columbus.
They travel the country to train people how to use the medication and educate people on the dangers of fentanyl. Last year, 85% of about 700 overdose deaths in Franklin County involved fentanyl, according to data from the Ohio Department of Health.
“A lot of people don’t know that fentanyl has made it into things that just a couple of years ago they thought as safe or non-addictive, so we can give them that education that, 'hey this is what you are looking for,' or 'this is what is in that substance supply right now.' And a lot of times that is the time that information resonates with folks and gets them to want to carry this around,” Perry said.
Perry lives in Columbus, and the city is where his long battle with heroin began at the beginning of the opioid epidemic, so bringing his mission to ComFest is especially important for him.
He started the non-profit after he was released from prison.
“I am honestly a child of the opioid epidemic. Lost way too many friends, know even more people who are still losing folks and I know had this stuff been around, a lot of those deaths wouldn’t have happened. And while there is nothing I can do to bring my friends and loved ones back, what we can do is try to prevent those tragedies in someone else’s life,” Perry said.
Perry is touring the country this summer, visiting festivals like Bonnaroo and Lollapalooza. So far this year, This Must Be The Place has handed out about 60,000 doses of Kloxxado.
“It’s really on all of us at the ground level to carry things like this. Look after our neighbors, our community and that method is what harm reduction is. That is how we get over this overdose and fentanyl epidemic is by each one of us taking care of each other,” he said.
To learn more about This Must Be The Place, click here.