Next was inspired by Tracey Helton
NEXT Harm Reduction aka NEXT Distro was inspired by the work of Tracey Helton, author of The Big Fix and outspoken advocate for proactive drug user health resources and expanded naloxone distribution. During the 2016 National Harm Reduction Conference, Tracey gave a plenary talk called Radical Harm Reduction: Our Only Choice is Civil Disobedience. She discussed her work mailing naloxone to individuals across the United States that she had met through online recovery forums. Tracey’s work was startlingly simple yet effective. How could her work be scaled up and implemented across 50 states? This question led to NEXT.
With Tracey’s blessing, NEXT was founded in 2017.
some history about our name
Originally, this work was incorporated as an LLC under the name “NEXT Distro” (Needle EXchange Technology). Jamie assumed that folks would be lining up to help pay for our work and was interested in getting out from under the non-profit industrial complex. Little did she understand, folks who invest money in LLCs want a return on their investment and all NEXT Distro could promise was lives saved. Shortly after, we launched a GoFundMe to start supporting costs related to shipping and program supplies. The money raised helped us through the first several months of operations and GoFundMe donations continue to support shipping expenses.
Thankfully, a small group of fabulous foundations showed interest in supporting our work. We incorporated as a not-for-profit 501c3 organization called Next Harm Reduction in 2018. Our syringe access work continues to operate under the name NEXT Distro although not under the LLC. If you hear Next Harm Reduction or NEXT Naloxone, that’s us too.
Supply distribution through next distro
NEXT began mailing supplies in February, 2018. Since this time, between both of our platforms, NEXT has received requests from across 50 states and Puerto Rico. We spend approximately $7,000-$7,800 per month on shipping costs alone. (Please note that we are always in need of individual contributions.)
NEXT’s syringe access branch is a legally operating syringe access program waivered by the New York State Department of Health. NEXT also operates in California (with SANE), in Michigan (with Grand Rapids Red Project), in Louisiana (with Trystereo), in Oklahoma (with Oklahoma Harm Reduction Alliance), in Wisconsin (with Gwayakobimaadiziwin / Bad River Harm Reduction), and Nevada (with Trac-B). We mail everything that an individual would expect to receive when they walk in to a brick & mortar syringe exchange program including sterile hypodermic syringes, sharps containers, alcohol pads, adhesive bandages, safer smoking supplies and safer sex supplies. We also provide supplementary supplies including antibiotic ointment and fentanyl test strips. In addition to harm reduction supplies, we include materials on drug user health, wound identification and care, family planning, and overdose prevention. Unless there are specific circumstances, NEXT Distro does not mail in New York City thanks to the excellent harm reduction resources that exist within the five boroughs.
Since beginning mailings in 2017, NEXT has shipped over 148,000 packages to low and no-access communities across the United States.
Building next naloxone
While in the process of building out the NEXT Distro platform, NEXT registered as an Opioid Overdose Prevention Program in New York State. We called this project “NEXT Naloxone” and housed it at naloxoneforall.org. We have since merged the NEXT Naloxone site into the page, nextdistro.org/naloxone NEXT’s naloxone platform was the first statewide online and mail-based naloxone distribution project in the country. We have increased the impact of our work by partnering with harm reduction programs across the country to mail naloxone within their own state through our affiliate hub-and-spoke model.
Since NEXT Naloxone’s launch in November 2018, we have distributed no-cost naloxone to over 90,000 households across the country.
A host of online opioid overdose trainings are available on the internet and many states have embraced mail-based naloxone delivery especially in light of the COVID19 pandemic. For-profit mail-based naloxone companies such as Script Health have also emerged.
Building the next distro platform
Building the online platform to house NEXT has been complex and fabulous. From day one we’ve been working from main organizing tenants:
The security and privacy of individuals using the NEXT Distro site is paramount. Without privacy we can’t build trust.
In-person services are best. NEXT works to demystify in-person syringe exchange programs and support linkages to them when possible.
People who use drugs and the harm reduction community as a whole will be involved in the leadership, evaluation, and roll-out of NEXT.
NEXT Distro will center and support BIPOC communities that use drugs.
People in different areas of the United States use different drugs, have different languages, and have access to different resources; the NEXT Distro platform will respect and reflect this diversity.
Individuals with low levels of technological literacy will be able to navigate harm reduction information and education.
Our future
We envision a platform where people who use drugs can find support, solidarity, and the tools to fight against stigma. We believe people who use drugs have the right to organize and leverage their political power to stop the drug war. We will ensure that people who use drugs have the supplies they need to keep themselves safe and well with a particular focus on communities who have been structurally shut out of the healthcare system, have no access to wealth (generational or otherwise), and have been mistreated and discriminated against.
We will build partnerships with harm reduction programs across the country and will work to collaborate with community partners who support individuals who use drugs through non- judgemental medical and mental health care, and medication such as low-threshold buprenorphine.
As a not-for-profit, we move through funding environments aware of an ecosystem that pushes activists into bureaucracy. We remain committed to our principals and belief that social change will be funded by impacted communities. To that end, we need money to do this work and collaborate with funders committed to harm reduction and the empowerment of people who use drugs. NEXT does not seek or accept funding that puts our mission at risk, puts our participants at risk, or requires overburdensome administrative requirements.
