U.S. Attorney General Calls for Overdose Antidote Availability

United States Attorney General Eric Holder is calling for a national effort to expand access emergency workers and guardians have to the overdose reversal drug, naloxone.

On Monday, Holder vowed that the Justice Department would combat a growing epidemic of opioid overdoses through a combination of efforts in regards to treatment and law enforcement. Holder noted during his address to the public that heroin and prescription opioid overdose rates have increased by 45 percent between 2006 and 2010.

As part of these efforts, holder is urging every state in the country to make sure their first responders have access to the emergency drug naloxone, which can be administered to a drug abuser mid-overdose to reverse the adverse effects and potentially save their life. Heroin overdoses are particularly dangerous to drug abusers because they have been known to cause a dangerously increased heart rate and asphyxiation.

New York State was one of the first states to successfully use naloxone through the 2006 Opioid Overdose Prevention Program that equipped officers and first responders in Staten Island with the emergency drug. At the start of the 2014, a New York police officer was able to save the life of an overdosing drug abuser because he had been trained in the use of naloxone.

Holder's address also explained that officials would be adopting a "good Samaritan" stance in the case of overdosing addicts. If a drug abuser or a friend calls to report their overdose, looking for help, the Holder asks that state law enforcement not arrest the drug abuser after administering emergency aid. It is the hope of the Justice Department in association with groups like the Drug Policy Alliance, that policies like these will encourage addicts to seek help and lower the overdose death rate.

These sentiments mirror those of Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy Gil Kerlikoweske, who asked for increased naloxone availability and Good Samaritan arrest policies at aWhite House hearing last month.

You can watch the entire message from the Attorney General at the U.S. Justice Department website.

A press release containing a transcript of the public message was published on March 10.