Ocean County’s first harm-reduction vending machine is open

🔴 Ocean County's first harm-reduction vending machine is now operating 24/7 in Toms River, offering free and anonymous overdose prevention supplies.

🔴 The machine provides naloxone, syringes, safer smoking kits, wound care supplies, test strips and other harm-reduction resources.

🔴 Since launching July 20, the machine has distributed hundreds of supplies, expanding access beyond traditional outreach hours.

TOMS RIVER — Ocean County’s first harm-reduction vending machine is now available, providing free, anonymous 24/7 access to overdose prevention and harm- reduction supplies.

Located outside the Suburban Health Clinic at 10 Mule Road in Toms River, the vending machine offers supplies that not only help prevent overdoses, but also help reduce the transmission of HIV, Hepatitis C and other bloodborne diseases, said Cole Zaccaro, manager of Harm Reduction Services at Prevention Resource Network.

Harm reduction supply vending machine in Asbury Park (PRN)

Toms River harm-reduction vending machine offers free supplies 24/7

Substance use and the harms that come with it are prevalent in New Jersey, Zaccaro said.

While overdose deaths have declined in recent years, 2,816 New Jersey residents died from drug overdoses in 2023, according to Zaccaro.

“We are seeing confirmed fatal overdoses, and the spread of HIV and Hepatitis C, and these can be prevented with knowledge and resources,” Zaccaro said.

Over the years, residents have consistently voiced their concerns that there are not enough resources to meet the vast need of the community. There are people who struggle with substance use and don’t have access to safer use supplies, Zaccaro said.

Prevention Resource Network has been providing harm-reduction resources for quite some time, with mobile units and counselors providing on-site outreach in Monmouth and Ocean counties, offering supplies, education, and connections to health care and other community resources.

But many people can’t make hours when this help is being offered, or they don’t have the transportation to get there.

This vending machine extends access to those resources beyond the scheduled outreach hours, Zaccaro said, remaining available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

The goal is about reaching as many people as possible, and to make sure that the tools to help keep people alive and well are in the hands of the people who need them and when they need them, Zaccaro said.

Suburban health care clinic team with the harm reduction vending machine in Asbury Park (PRN)

What is available inside the Ocean County vending machine?

Items available in the vending machine include a combination of safer use supplies and supplies to prevent diseases, such as syringes, and supplies to inject more safely like tourniquets, cookers and cotton.

There are also safer smoking kits. Three different kinds are in the machine. One is for crack cocaine, one is for crystal meth, and one is for smoking rather than injecting opioids, Zaccaro said. Those also come with mouthpieces and chapsticks.

“We also provide wound care kits so folks who maybe are reluctant to go to a hospital or a medical setting can still, at least, keep any wounds sanitary and prevent the risk of infection,” Zaccaro said.

Naloxone is also available in the vending machine, which is the agent to reverse opioid overdoses.

Sharps containers are also available so folks can safely collect used syringes, adulterant test strips and condom kits.

A syringe return kiosk is also located next to the vending machine, which allows people to safely dispose of used syringes 24/7.

Toms River vending machine already distributing hundreds of supplies

The Toms River vending machine launched on July 20, and Zaccaro said that to date, it has given out 200 syringes, 59 safer smoking kits, 16 wound care kits, seven boxes of Naloxone, and a handful of condoms, test strips and sharps containers.

The Ocean County vending machine builds on the success of Prevention Resource Network's first harm-reduction vending machine, which launched in Asbury Park in April 2025.

In the first year alone, the machine distributed more than 50,000 harm-reduction supplies, according to Zaccaro.

Zaccaro said at the Asbury Park location, most distributions occurred between 4 p.m. and 9 p.m., highlighting the demand for access to such life-saving supplies outside of traditional business hours.

Prevention Resource Network has received funding for two more of these vending machines in Monmouth and Ocean counties, and is looking for partners to work with to host the machines. Anyone interested can reach out here.

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