Detroit Musician Takes Fight Against Opioid Crisis to Local Music Venues

“I’m looking at this as a way to make the culture that sustains people a bit safer,” says local musician Scott Boyink.

Narcan Kits 2

 

Scott Boyink has dealt with addiction and death from drug use first-hand, so the idea of putting Narcan kits in bars and music venues throughout metro Detroit is a personal mission.

 

Narcan kits are the emergency antidote to opioid overdoses and can be tough to find even in pharmacies, says Boyink.

 

“I’m looking at this as a way to make the culture that sustains people a bit safer,” says Boyink, who has been part of the local music scene for years performing in bands like the Amino Acids and Steve Harvey Oswald.

 

Scott Boyink

At time of publication, Boyink says he has distributed 20 Narcan kits to venues in Detroit, Ferndale and Hamtramck, where many venues are prepping for the Hamtramck Music Festival starting on March 1st.

 

Boyink has raised money for the Narcan kits via fundraiser shows and a charity album dubbed Positive Approach, a play on legendary Detroit punk band Negative Approach.

 

Boyink is looking to start a non-profit charity of the same name built around drug abuse and suicide issues in the local music scene in 2018.

 

Click on the audio player above for the full conversation.

 
 

Author

  • Ryan Patrick Hooper inside the WDET studio.
    Ryan Patrick Hooper is the award-winning host of "In the Groove" on 101.9 WDET-FM Detroit’s NPR station. Hooper has covered stories for the New York Times, NPR, Detroit Free Press, Hour Detroit, SPIN and Paste magazine.