This week, Santa Barbara County's first health and safety vending machine opened on the patio of the Isla Vista Community Center.
Stocked with life-sustaining and preventative health items like Narcan, fentanyl test strips, HIV rapid tests and emergency contraceptives, the machine provides anonymous access to supplies that normally carry a stigma, which UCSB sophomore Avery King says is important to remove barriers.
"They won't be able to know if it is like a Plan B or if it's a pregnancy test that they're grabbing. It's all just confidential. I really like that. I think it's a great idea," King says.
According to the Santa Barbara County Coroner’s Office, last year, 130 people died of opioid overdoses in Santa Barbara County, with one of the deaths involving a UC Santa Barbara student during Deltopia.
"We knew that something like this was so essential for the people who live here and it was not something we could say no to," said Jonathan Abboud, Isla Vista Community Services District general manager.
The machine is open 24/7 and takes around 45 seconds to dispense products.
After just one day of operation, three boxes of Narcan and one STI test kit had been distributed. The Isla Vista machine is the third of its kind in the state and was made possible by state grant funding and partnerships with Aegis and the Pacific Pride Foundation.
