ESPAÑOLA — At El Moreno Minimarket, calling an ambulance used to be an “everyday thing,” store manager Bryan Bobadilla said.
Most days, market staff would call for help after finding someone in distress near the store, a phenomenon Bobadilla attributed to regular drug use and limited police presence in the area.
That changed a few months ago, when Rio Arriba County Health and Human Services Department workers placed a freestanding purple box at the front of the store. They stocked the box — one of more than a dozen across the county — with the opioid overdose-reversing drug naloxone, also known by the brand name Narcan.
“Ever since they put the box, we basically haven’t made any phone calls,” Bobadilla said.
Rio Arriba County has the highest rate of overdose deaths in New Mexico by a wide margin. The county saw about 115 overdose deaths per 100,000 residents between 2019 and 2023, nearly three times the statewide average, state Department of Health data shows. In recent years, Rio Arriba, Santa Fe and Taos counties have seen a surge in drug overdose deaths and overdose-related emergency room visits, bucking downward trends nationwide.
But installing boxes of no-cost naloxone — known as “naloxboxes” — throughout Española and Tierra Amarilla may be making a dent in those numbers, preliminary data from the county health department shows.
From January to September 2025, Rio Arriba County saw about 28 overdose-related 911 calls per month. After county health officials installed the naloxboxes in October, that average has dropped to about 16 overdose-related 911 calls per month.
The early data indicates an association between the boxes and overdose emergencies, said Ahmed Dadzie, director of the county health department, though he noted other variables may have affected overdoses in late 2025.
Nonetheless, it’s “really exciting news,” Dadzie said.
“The people of Rio Arriba, they’re smart. They’re resourceful. … It tells me that whenever they’re provided with resources, they have that skillset to be able to utilize — to effectively utilize — these resources,” he said.
A theme emerged when Rio Arriba County health officials hosted focused groups with homeless residents, people who use substances and law enforcement, Dadzie said.
“We found out that, a lot of times, the unhoused that use substances don’t carry naloxone on them because they find it to be too bulky,” he said. “So they recommended it would be very meaningful if we had naloxone boxes.”
How did health officials figure out where to put the naloxboxes? They reviewed years of 911 data to determine which locations in the county served as “hot spots” for overdoses and worked to place the boxes accordingly, Dadzie said.
The boxes come in two kinds, added Cruz Anaya, special projects coordinator for the county health department. Some, like the one outside El Moreno Minimarket, are free-standing. Others are smaller boxes that attach to poles or trees.
In either case, the naloxone is free to access. Anyone can reach in and grab some.
Anaya tracks the amount of naloxone taken from each box and restocks them as needed.
There are now 19 naloxboxes installed in Rio Arriba County, Anaya said. Of those, four are in the county seat of Tierra Amarilla. Fifteen more are located in throughout Española — placed at grocery stores, gas stations, health centers and apartment complexes with the consent of property owners.
“For us to be able to place our naloxboxes, we had to be able to get buy-in from our community members, like store owners, landowners. They were openly willing and happy to support this initiative,” Dadzie said.
Bobadilla said having the naloxbox is “definitely a plus” for El Moreno Minimarket, where workers now encounter far fewer overdose emergencies.
“It’s definitely gotten a lot better, both for the store and for the customers,” he said.