Chicago transit riders can now access the overdose-reversing medication naloxone at six CTA stations.
The expansion comes about two years after the nasal spray, often known by the brand name Narcan, first became available to riders at the 95th Street Red Line station.
As of Monday, new Narcan dispensers are operational at the following CTA stations:
- Jefferson Park Blue Line
- Harlem/Lake Green Line
- 47th Street Red Line
- Wilson Red/Purple Line
- Central Park Pink Line
Riders can access the medication for free by pressing the code “555” on the machines.
“These locations were strategically selected based on geography analysis that showed heightened opioid-related emergency medical responses,” acting CTA President Nora Leerhsen said at a news conference at the 47th Street station Monday.
The CTA partnered with Chicago’s health department to install the first dispenser, while the new machines are the result of a partnership with Cook County Health.
Cook County Health plans to spend around $100,000 to cover the procurement, installation and operation of the vending machines during the six-month pilot program. The CTA will cover only the cost of the electricity needed to run the machines, according to an ordinance the agency’s board approved in June.
The program can be extended for two five-year terms, although either the CTA or Cook County Health can choose to terminate it.
Sheila Haennicke has advocated for Narcan access on the CTA for years. Haennicke’s 29-year-old son David died of an overdose on a Blue Line train almost four years ago.
“Narcan is so easy to administer,” Haennicke said Monday. “The hardest thing is making the decision to help a stranger.”
David, a 2010 graduate of Oak Park and River Forest High School, was an adventurer and a lover of people, Haennicke said. Opioids, she said, “hijacked” his life — as they have so many others.
“He loved people. He loved the CTA. He was on it a lot; he started riding it as a kid with his dad and I and his sister when we would go places,” Haennicke said. “He was brilliant, curious, troubled, addicted, unfortunately, to drugs that ultimately took his life.”
On Monday, Haennicke was joined by representatives from the CTA and the county, including Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle, to mark the launch of the pilot program.
Advocates said Chicago’s transit system is a crucial point for the prevention of opioid deaths.
“In the ecosystem of care for people in Chicago, the CTA is an epicenter,” said Denise Barreto, the agency’s chief equity and engagement officer. “We often catch people who fall through our systems.”
In 2023, a Chicago Reader investigation found that 158 people had died of opioid-related overdoses on the CTA between 2018 and 2022.
“(Transit) is the place where people go to in the evenings when they have no place to lay their head,” said Fanya Burford-Berry, director of the West Side Heroin/Opioid Task Force.
Citywide, opioid-related emergency responses have declined in recent years, according to data from the Chicago Department of Public Health.
EMS responses related to opioids skyrocketed from less than 3,000 a year in 2015 to more than 13,000 in 2020, according to CDPH.
But the city saw a decline of 20% in opioid-related responses between 2023 and 2024. This August, the health department said opioid-related EMS responses had continued to decline, with a 24% decrease in the first half of 2025 compared with the same time last year.