Narcan is a life-saving spray that can reverse an opioid-related overdose. | Hanson - stock.adobe.com Inside the city’s new opioid overdose awareness and prevention program D.C. restaurants, bars, and nightlife spots are more equipped than ever to help save lives when overdoses happen inside their walls. In partnership with Restaurant Association Metropolitan Washington (RAMW), D.C.’s Department of Behavioral Health (DBH) has distributed over 200 overdose awareness and prevention packets to area establishments over the past few months. The free tool kit includes naloxone, an essential opioid overdose-reversing medication also known as Narcan. The public program was first announced during July’s 42nd annual Rammy Awards — the local restaurant industry’s premiere gala that drew a record 2,500 attendees to the Walter E. Washington Convention Center this year. DBH decided the hospitality world was the best place to start when it comes to fighting fentanyl in D.C. Hook Hall owner Anna Valero, a big supporter of the prevention program, says the industry’s need is two-fold. “One, the reality is venues don’t know what people are taking before they walk in the door,” she tells Eater. “Second, there is no denying the fact that folks in the hospitality industry have higher rates of substance abuse issues.” Along with Valero’s cavernous indoor-outdoor bar in Park View, other participating D.C. restaurants so far include All-Purpose Pizzeria, Busboys and Poets, Filomena Ristorante, Maketto, and Silver Diner Navy Yard. Owners can order the tool kit here, which contains packages of naloxone and simple educational materials (in English and Spanish) on how and when to use the medication. Valero notes that businesses face no liability when it comes to administering life-saving aid to customers in grave emergencies such as sudden opioid overdoses. D.C.’s Alcoholic Beverage and Cannabis Administration (ABCA) is also a proponent of the new program, encouraging licensees to stock up on Narcan and train staff on its usage. “We look at it no differently than teaching people CPR or alcohol awareness training. We’re making sure we are being responsible citizens by being able to respond,” she says. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently published promising data from April 2023-24, when overdose deaths dropped nationally by 10 percent to about 101,000. Health experts attribute an increased awareness of and expanded access to naloxone as a key cause for the decline. Fentanyl was present in more than 97 percent of fatal overdoses in 2023. Valero says local owners like herself continue to see impacts of the illicitly manufactured synthetic drug in D.C., with bathrooms being a common place where overdoses can happen. “We want to empower [hospitality] teams to know what they’re doing in those moments — they can be very frightening,” she says. Hook Hall plans to host a free naloxone training session for industry folks on Thursday, November 21 from 2 p.m.-3 p.m. Register here. “It’s key to get ahead of the holiday season, when mental health and substance issues tend to spike,” she says.