Volunteers will build naloxone kits in Anchorage on Overdose Awareness Day

Volunteers will assemble naloxone kits Aug. 31 for distribution across Alaska, on International Overdose Awareness Day.

The state recorded 238 opioid overdose deaths in 2025, according to preliminary figures from the Department of Health. That continues a decline: 276 in 2024 and 286 in 2023.

The kits contain naloxone nasal spray, which reverses an opioid overdose. Project HOPE, the state's harm reduction program, gives them out at no cost. Since 2017 the program and its partners have assembled and distributed more than 57,000 kits through 131 organizations designated as Overdose Response Programs.

The build runs 8 am to 4 pm at the Fairview Recreation Center in Anchorage. Volunteers register by time slot, and no experience is required. The Department of Health is organizing it with the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium, Volunteers of America Alaska and the Anchorage Health Department.

At a legislative briefing in April, Jack Carson said police and troopers cannot "arrest our way out of" the problem.

If you or someone you know is struggling with substance use, 988 is available by call or text.