Overdose prevention & response

Naloxone is an emergency medication that can reverse an opiate overdose. (You may be more familiar with the brand name of this medication – Narcan.) We provide overdose prevention and response training with naloxone.

Naloxone distribution and trainings and are held at the 6th Street Center during open hours and at mobile sites, during street outreach and across SFAF programs.

We provide overdose prevention that includes tips on how to identify, avoid and respond to overdoses. We also explore safer drug use practices and safer injection techniques with participants.

During Narcan trainings, we hold space for people to talk about their experiences with overdose and provide referrals to address other needs that may include drug treatment, mental health care and medical care.

Our overdose prevention and response services are for people who use drugs, people who love drug users, and people who spend time with others who use drugs (including friends, family members and service providers).

Individual San Francisco residents who do not use drugs and are not around people who use drugs are encouraged to access overdose prevention and response services, including Narcan, from the Community Behavioral Health Services (CBHS) Pharmacy at 1380 Howard Street, San Francisco.

Our drug checking services, SCOPE, provides point-of-care drug checking with FTIR technology. More information about drug checking, and how to access it, can be found here.

Fentanyl may be present knowingly or unknowingly with other drugs. There are two ways you can test for fentanyl in your supply.

Fentanyl testing strips that help you know whether fentanyl is present. These easy-to-use strips only tell you whether fentanyl is present, not how much is present. We provide fentanyl test strips at 6th Street Center and our mobile health services sites.

Our drug checking services, SCOPE, provides point-of-care drug checking with FTIR technology. More information about drug checking, and how to access it, can be found here.

Fentanyl is a potent synthetic opioid. For some, fentanyl is a drug of choice–not a “contaminant” in the drug supply. Fentanyl is often a white rock or chunk, or a granular powder. It can also come in other colors such as pink, purple, green, or gray. The color of the drug does not indicate its strength. You cannot overdose by touching fentanyl. Naloxone will work on fentanyl and all other opioids.