ORLANDO, Fla. — As hundreds of thousands of people descend on Oralndo for the Electric Daisy Carnival, experts say the fun comes with some risks.
That's why Project Opioid was there on the first night of the event handing out naloxone spray as part of their overall effort to prevent opioid overdoses.
The three-day event usually draws about 300,000 to Orlando’s Tinker Field next to Camping World Stadium.
On EDC’s website, organizers make it clear: They have a zero-tolerance drug policy. Regardless, Project Opioid came to hand out something they hope could potentially save lives at the festival.
While it may be awkward approaching people coming into EDC and offering them an antidote to an opioid overdose, that’s exactly what Stephanie Cho was doing on the first day of the festival, just outside the entrance.
“I just ask them do you want some free Kloxxado, and if they ask me what it is I go into detail, and just say, 'I’m trying to get it into as many hands as I can today so if anybody stumbles upon someone having an overdose they can save a life,'” said Cho.
Cho and others with the organization handed out Kloxxado — a naloxone nasal spray that reverses the effects of an opioid overdose.
“I just want people to have it so if you run across anybody and can save anybody, that’s awesome," Cho said. "That’s a win in our book."
Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show more than 100,000 people died of overdoses in one recent year, and it’s America’s youth and vulnerable populations that are most at risk.
Officials with Project Opioid warn that other drugs and pain medication can be laced with fentanyl, making it lethal. Cho said it’s that danger that makes her passionate about educating others.
“I’m in college, and a lot of people my age have no idea what this is, have no idea there is a fentanyl problem,” she said. “Yeah, they hear it in the news and they talk about it, but they realize that it’s not real to them.”
Cho said the naloxone spray is for anyone who might be willing to carry it with them, and come to the aid of someone overdosing.
“It’s not just people who are partaking in drugs that this fentanyl crisis is affecting,” said Cho. “It can be everyone and it can be anyone on any given day, so that’s why we focus on making sure that people know all about it — any age group. Some people say it can be enabling behavior, but I say if you’re saving lives and you’re being preventative, that it can’t really be taken that way.”
Project Opioid only distributed the nasal spray on the first day of EDC.