​Group opens Moorhead business to treat overdoses

Offers free needles, opiate reversal drugs and training

An organization called The Fargo Moorhead Good Neighbor Project recently opened up a storefront in Moorhead, where it distributes free needles and Naloxone, the opiate overdose reversal drug, which can reverse the effects of a heroin overdose as well as painkillers. It also offers free training to anyone in administering the drug and conducting rescue breathing.

The organization first received training themselves to administer the drug in the Twin Cities in January and it brought back needles and Naloxone. Within a week, the non-addictive drug had already saved one life. With the opening of the storefront at 1208 Center Avenue, it is hoping to save many more.

The Good Neighbor Project deliberately opened near the border in Moorhead to allow easier access for Fargo and North Dakota residents, where possessing needles remains illegal. Both a Good Samaritan law to offer potential immunity for calling 911 on an overdose and a law allowing the distribution of Naloxone are awaiting Gov. Jack Dalrymple’s signature after the legislature passed them this session.

The group was formed by three individuals, volunteer coordinator Jeremy Kelly, as well as two mothers affected by addiction. Jenenne Guffey lost her son Joshua to heroin overdose in 2013 when he was found in the basement of Borrowed Bucks Roadhouse. Missy Patterson’s daughter Alex is a long-time heroin addict. It was Alex who received training and Nalxone from her mother in January and used it to on a man who had a heroin overdose in Fargo. Charges against Alex are pending for being in possession of drugs and needles.

“They ran me through the training and little did I know a week later, my daughter would end up having to use it. There was an overdose and she saved his life using it. He was non responsive and rescue breathing needed to be performed until the fire department showed up. They took over and once they were able to have oxygen introduced directly, he was able to be revived.” Patterson told HPR. “I am pretty passionate about the drug, it saves lives. Had it not been available, my daughter would be dealing with some pretty significant things.”

Minnesota passed laws in 2014 that Guffey lobbied for which provide limited immunity for calling 911 and allowing for the distribution of opiate reversal drugs. It is also one of the few states in the nation where possessing needles is not illegal. The new laws provided the impetus for the group to start the project.

This session, the ND Legislature passed one law that no longer makes it automatic that someone who calls 911 to report will be arrested for drug possession. Instead, it will be left to the prosecutor’s discretion. They passed another law allowing distribution of the opiate reversal drugs from licensed pharmacies. Needle possession, however, will remain illegal in ND.

Both bills would become law in July or August following the governor’s expected signature. In the meantime, The Fargo Moorhead Good Neighbor Project will still offer the drugs to North Dakota residents who come -- albeit with a warning.

“With good conscience, we have to let them know if they leave with it and get caught, it’s a potential fine. It’s a felony in North Dakota to have a needle. So they are taking a risk. But I think if we can get everybody on board and not feel like they are being hassled in any way, we’ve got a really good thing going here,” Patterson says.

For Guffey, losing her son made it a passion of hers to prevent other parents and loved ones from going through what she did.

“It’s all about saving lives, everybody matters. We definitely don’t want people using. This isn’t about encouraging using, it’s getting access to people that live on the fringe, they’re outliers, they don’t come in for medical attention until often it’s too late or they are extremely ill,” Guffey said. “To get access to a group of people that you generally don’t have access to, that way hopefully we can encourage them to let them know that they are loved and cared about, that they are not rejected by all of society and get them to treatment. Keep them alive, keep them at least not transferring diseases amongst themselves while we encourage recovery.”

The group has received a warm reception so far from Moorhead city officials in meetings with both the chief of police and Clay County sheriff. They were even told that Moorhead police would possess the drug were it not for dealing with extreme hot and cold temperatures in our region, which make it difficult for law enforcement to store the drugs.

“None of them were against it and given the evidence and given the facts they were supportive of it. The chief of police was very supportive of it and in fact said we need this kind of thing around here,” Kelly said.

As far as what Naloxone does, it essentially reverses for a short time period the effects of an opiate drug overdose allowing time to save someone. It could easily be described as bringing someone back from the dead.

“The Naloxone or there’s a name brand version of it called Narcan, it blocks the opiate receptors in a person so that it takes their high away. So if somebody is overdosing, if you give them the Naloxone, it makes it impossible for them to be high anymore for a short period of time, for about a half hour. So then you’ve got them alive and breathing again,” Kelly explained.

Patterson told HPR the storefront will be used strictly for distribution of the opiate reversal drugs, needles and training. Any notion otherwise is unfounded, she said.

“There’s going to be rules, we’re not going to have a spot where you can shoot up in the building, we are not going to tolerate it in the parking lot. This isn’t going to be a place for people to just come and hang out,” Patterson said.

Group members said they understand why there might be opposition to their efforts from people who feel they are promoting drug use, but they are hoping they can reverse that with education about their intentions and the nature of addiction.

“I think they don’t connect human beings with these deaths and all the suffering that goes on by these adults so it’s easy to just write them off,” Kelly said. “Those people aren’t part of our society and we don’t need to help them because they are just a bunch of criminals. It’s kind of like classing them but of course addiction happens within all socioeconomic groups but people don’t really perceive it that way.”

As the mother of an addict, Patterson said most people don’t understand how powerful drug addiction can be.

“The biggest thing is people don’t understand is you can’t just stop. The choice was the first time, the second time and beyond, it’s not a choice to the addict anymore. People don’t realize that it’s not just a well I’ll put the needle down,” she said.

After losing her son and becoming an advocate, Guffey got emotional when speaking of her message to addicts reading about their services.

“I want them to choose life. I want them to live. They are playing Russian Roulette,” Guffey said. “I want them to know they are cared about, that people love them because often times they burn so many bridges they don’t even have their families. They don’t have a lot of options, they don’t have a lot of people loving on them and caring about them, letting them know there’s people out here that actually do care about them and want them to make it.”

The Fargo Moorhead Good Neighbor Project has office hours from 6 pm to 9 pm Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday at 1208 Center Avenue in Moorhead. People can also call them 24 hours a day at 218-790-7707. You can also reach them via Facebook by searching for their page.