Downtown Macon restaurants more willing to carry Narcan. Group trains employees to use it

Overdose prevention groups faced resistance from the food and beverage industry in Macon and Atlanta for years about carrying life-saving products that can temporarily reverse drug effects when someone is overdosing.

If Tuesday’s demonstration on how to use naloxone at The Rookery was any evidence, they’re starting to see progress.

Many businesses in downtown Macon and East Atlanta have previously rejected recommendations to carry naloxone, an opioid overdose reversal medication also known by its brand-name Narcan, according to Andy Gish, an emergency room nurse and advocate with Georgia Overdose Prevention. The organization offers free statewide Narcan distribution for those who may be at risk of an overdose, or friends and family of people who use drugs.

“One person said to me in particular, ‘You think people do drugs in my bathroom?’ and I was like, ‘Absolutely, I know that people do drugs in your bathroom,’” Gish said, recalling a conversation with a business owner in East Atlanta’s Little Five Points neighborhood in 2015. “There was a lot of resistance at first.”

She offered to host free overdose emergency response training to businesses in downtown Macon several months ago, but said she “didn’t get anybody to call me back” until recently.

Moonhanger Group, which owns several restaurants, bars and other businesses in downtown Macon, was the first local company to get on board with harm reduction initiatives such as training staff and carrying Narcan. The company owns The Rookery, Dovetail, H&H Soul Food, The Capitol Theatre, Grant’s Lounge, Natalia’s, The Woodward Hotel and Quill Cocktail Bar.

The North Central Health District’s Overdose Prevention Program held an overdose prevention workshop at The Rookery Tuesday afternoon in collaboration with Moonhanger Group, Georgia Overdose Prevention and Macon Recovers – an addiction prevention and support center with River Edge Behavioral Health.

Matt Newton, director of operations for the company, Drew Jennings, general manager of The Rookery, and a few community members attended the workshop.

“It’s available, there’s state funding behind it and it seems silly not to have it on hand just in case. So we’re here to open up our venue,” Jennings told The Telegraph.

He was surprised to hear about the lack of efforts downtown to prevent deaths from overdoses.

“This downtown community is lucky to have this available. Luckily I’ve never personally had to run into (someone overdosing), but you never know what tomorrow will hold,” Jennings said.

Bibb County hasn’t seen any confirmed overdoses downtown this year, but there have been several across the county. There have been at least seven deaths from overdoses in the county in 2024, according to The Telegraph’s analysis of records from the coroner’s office. Five occurred in west Macon, one in south and one in north Macon. Some autopsies were not complete, so there were “probably more,” according to Ruth Taylor, secretary of the coroner’s office.

The rate of overdoses by population size increased in Bibb from 2022 to 2023, according to The Telegraph’s reporting of the most recent data by the North Central Health District. A recent drop in U.S. overdose deaths could be connected to an increase in Narcan availability, NPR reported.

Gish said some business owners worry their clientele would decline if they advertise that they carry Narcan. Some people also believe carrying Narcan or training service industry workers to respond to overdose encourages people to use drugs, but Gish said this is a common misconception.

“(Service industry workers) are very much like first responders now…” Gish said. “They’re already assessing people generally for intoxication, so they’re also perfect people to take that one extra step in assessing somebody for overdose.”

Hannah Baker, a certified addiction recovery empowerment specialist and supervisor of Macon Recovers, helped organize Tuesday’s workshop. Baker has been in “long-term recovery” for 21 years, she explained.

“I was in my early 20s, and it was a problem, and I would put anything in my body almost that anybody put in my face,” Baker told attendees at the workshop. “So those days, if fentanyl were happening right now, I would probably be dead.”

Now she carries Narcan in her car at all times in case of emergencies.

The medicine works in any temperature, as long as it’s not freezing. Most doses have an expiration date marked around three to four years by the Food and Drug Administration, but they are usually still effective for around 30 years, according to a study in the National Library of Medicine.

Georgia House Bill 395, also known as the Medical Amnesty Bill, protects victims suspected of overdosing and anyone who calls 911 about the incident. They cannot be arrested, charged or prosecuted for small amounts of alcohol, drugs or drug paraphernalia “if the evidence was obtained as a result of seeking medical assistance,” according to Georgia Overdose Prevention.

There are no local ordinances or Georgia laws that require Narcan in restaurants, bars or clubs.

A similar statewide law – Senate Bill 395, or Wesley’s Law – requires school properties, courthouses and government buildings to have Narcan.

Gish hopes similar rulings and trainings such as what was done at The Rookery will inspire other business owners to follow their lead.

“I called in favors from some friends that owned restaurants and bars where people respected them, and I said, ‘I need you to carry it so that this place will carry it...’ and that’s what opened all the doors for it,” Gish said.

This story was originally published October 17, 2024 at 5:00 AM.