Athena R. Huckaby, MPH

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United States
Las Cruces, NM
Athena R. Huckaby, MPH

Public Health & Harm Reduction Specializing in mental health, gynecology and acupuncture, but open to working with all types of providers.

For Medical Providers - Including, but never limited to:
* Billing and coding
* Scheduling and confirmations
* Bookkeeping
* E-prescribe, prescriptions and refill requests
* EHR/PM recommendations and implementations, specializing in cloud-based solutions
* Paperless office solutions
* Claims filing
* Credentialing
* Consulting

For patients, including, but never limited to:
* Assistance preparing and filing out-of-network claims
* Preparing and filing appeals

03/09/2026

🍑 Some bro tried to shame me online; I was talking about a mental health medication I utilize and he was like “you might as well boof it.” Joke’s on him. Boofing is a super legitimate route of administration!

🍑 Harm Reduction Tip of the Day: Boof Safely!

For anyone unfamiliar with the term, boofing means re**al administration of a substance. It’s actually a route of administration that has been used in medicine for a long time. Suppositories, anti-nausea medications, seizure medications, and many other drugs are given this way.

Why do some people choose this route?

📌 Faster absorption than swallowing
📌 Avoids stomach irritation and nausea
📌 Often requires smaller amounts than oral use
📌 Can be an option when veins are damaged or people want to avoid injection

Harm reduction means meeting reality with information instead of judgment. People use substances in many different ways, and accurate information helps people stay safer.

🍑 Stay informed
🍑 Stay curious
🍑 Boof safe

03/06/2026

KOAT reports that “narcotics” were found inside the Torrance County Detention Center.

The substance in question was Suboxone.

Suboxone is the brand name for buprenorphine. It is an FDA-approved medication used to treat Opioid Use Disorder.

Buprenorphine reduces withdrawal.
It reduces cravings.
It reduces overdose deaths.

Calling buprenorphine “narcotics” turns an FDA-approved medication into a crime story.

About two-thirds of people in U.S. jails and prisons meet the criteria for a Substance Use Disorder.

Withdrawal does not stop when someone is incarcerated.

For decades, most correctional facilities in the United States have refused to provide medications for Opioid Use Disorder.

When treatment is withheld, people try to manage withdrawal however they can.

A black market for buprenorphine in jails did not appear by accident. It appeared because treatment was not provided.

A system that incarcerates large numbers of people with Substance Use Disorder still has a responsibility to provide treatment.

New Mexico has passed a law requiring correctional facilities to provide medications for Opioid Use Disorder and begin treatment for people who need it while they are incarcerated.

Correctional facilities must implement these programs by June 30, 2026.

Medication is treatment.
Forced withdrawal is not.

💊 Evidence-based care saves lives
🏥 Correctional healthcare is still healthcare
❤️ People with Substance Use Disorder deserve medical treatment

03/05/2026

⚠️ Medetomidine has been detected in the drug supply here in New Mexico.

Medetomidine (say it with me: Med-da-TOM-a-dine) is a sedative used in veterinary medicine and not approved for humans. It has recently been identified in fentanyl samples.

It is similar to xylazine but is more potent and longer lasting.

It can change how people respond to naloxone during an overdose, which matters if we are responding to overdoses in the community.

If medetomidine is present, a person may remain heavily sedated even after naloxone (Narcan) reverses the opioid.

🫁 Important reminder about opioid overdose:

⚠️ People experiencing an opioid overdose are dying from lack of 🫁 oxygen 🫁, not from lack of naloxone.

Naloxone reverses opioids, but 🫁 rescue breathing 🫁 is always a critical part of overdose response.

What to do if someone overdoses:

🚑 Call 911 and say the person is not breathing
🫁 Provide rescue breathing to get oxygen into the lungs
💊 Give naloxone, and continue rescue breathing for 3 minutes. Give the naloxone time to work before giving another dose.
➡️ If breathing returns but the person is still unconscious, place them in the recovery position

‼️ Naloxone still saves lives‼️
But because sedatives like medetomidine and xylazine may be involved, the person may not wake up immediately even after naloxone works.

🫁 Stay with them and support breathing until help arrives.

Carry naloxone. Learn proper overdose response. Check on people.

03/04/2026

Tdoay is International S*x Workers’ Rights Day.

My MPH concentration is in Maternal, Child, S*xual, and Reproductive Health. I started my work in harm reduction alongside s*x worker rights organizations. That foundation shaped everything I do!

S*x work is work.
Workers deserve safety.
Workers deserve healthcare.
Workers deserve labor protections.
Workers deserve freedom from violence and criminalization.

Public health data is clear. Criminalization increases violence. It increases HIV risk. It increases barriers to care. Stigma kills.

If we care about health outcomes, bodily autonomy, and evidence-based policy, then we care about s*x workers’ rights.

I ride hard for s*x workers! Always have.

*xWorkersRightsDay
*xWorkIsWork

*xualAndReproductiveHealth

02/26/2026

I was really honored to be a guest on KRWG Public Media's new podcast "You, Me & Inequity."

This episode explores health inequities in our region, and I share some of what I’ve learned through public health work and co-founding Low Barrier Grajeda-Huckaby Housing Fund.

One thing I’ve seen over and over: people navigating Substance Use Disorder (SUD) need access and coordination. They need housing and healthcare that talk to each other.

Systems gaps create inequity. We can do better.

Take a listen and let me know what you like, or what you don't!

https://www.krwg.org/2026-02-12/youmeandinequity-ep-2?fbclid=Iwb21leAQNkQljbGNrBA2Q5GV4dG4DYWVtAjExAHNydGMGYXBwX2lkDDM1MDY4NTUzMTcyOAABHuBohUztTPyhPPhshQDfit7n9sh8Xad0RRNPAbz-njaqdBvrzJwtautNfbQY_aem_toMCfPnattKh9-mzuLCoTQ

02/24/2026

*cracks knuckles*

02/23/2026

These socks say: “I have naloxone in case of overdose.”

Naloxone is legal, easy to use, and reverses opioid overdoses. More people carrying it means more people survive.

Normalize carrying naloxone.
Normalize being prepared.

02/06/2026

New Mexico’s Good Samaritan Law protects people who call 911 during an overdose.

Both the witness and the person overdosing are protected from drug possession charges.

This law exists so people feel safe calling for help. Fear should never be the reason someone dies.

I talk about this in every naloxone training, but we still haven’t done enough to get the word out.

If you’ve had an experience with this law in New Mexico, I’d really like to hear your perspective.

02/04/2026

Here at the Roundhouse advocating for HB137, the buprenorphine access bill. Just learned the mid level distributors hired a lobbyist, the same person that has been hired in the past to lobby for the alcohol and to***co industry. Ask yourself why medications distributors don't want people to have access to life saving medications. Make it make sense (hint, it's stigma and discrimination)

01/31/2026

Thank you, Jessie, for the beautiful painted rock! ❤️

Address

Las Cruces, NM

Telephone

+1 575-519-5055

Website

http://www.athenahuckaby.com/

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