Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Provide Wisconsin Residents Medication Used to Reverse Opioid Overdoses

Monday, July 8th, 2024 -- 9:01 AM

(Danielle Kaeding, Wisconsin Public Radio) Over the last year, the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa has provided Wisconsin residents almost 15,000 doses of a medication used to reverse opioid overdoses.

According to Danielle Kaeding with Wisconsin Public Radio, the tribe first launched a statewide mail-order service offering free naloxone, more commonly known as Narcan, in late 2022.

Bad River had already been distributing the opioid overdose reversal medication through its harm reduction program to people using drugs across northern Wisconsin. The tribe began offering the mail service in partnership with NEXT Distro, an online and mail-based harm reduction platform.

Eli Corbine, the tribe’s harm reduction coordinator, said he wouldn’t be alive without Narcan after he overdosed in February 2019. At the time, Corbine said he used a wide range of drugs that included meth, heroin and fentanyl. “I woke up in a hotel on the east side of St. Paul with Narcan injectable in my arms, at least two or three doses,” Corbine said. “Shortly after that, I went to jail, and I sobered up.”

He said the harm reduction services provided by the tribe through the mail-order program is a vital tool to help save lives in the region and throughout the state. Since 2023, the tribe has made 1,900 deliveries through the mail-order service to people in at least 63 counties statewide.

In addition to the mail-order service, Bad River also provided more than 2,000 in-person deliveries. Altogether, more than 14,800 doses of naloxone and over 165,000 syringes have been distributed, according to tribal figures through May.

Corbine said many orders come from urban areas of southern Wisconsin, including Dane County.

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