39 different police agencies across the state of New York will soon be equipped with an antidote which helps reverse the effects of a heroin overdose.
According to WPTZ, New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said awards in the Community Overdose Prevention Program — which was funded by crime investigation seizures — will reimburse 30 separate New York counties that bought over 1,000 Naloxone kits.
“Heroin is destroying our communities, and it’s time we looked at broader solutions to fight back,” said Schneiderman. “Naloxone is stunningly effective at stopping an overdose in its tracks, and putting this powerful antidote in the hands of every law-enforcement agent in the state will save countless lives. With I-STOP, we’ve managed to reduce doctor-shopping in New York and turn off one spigot in the drug crisis — now, we can turn our focus to the scourge caused by heroin. It’s particularly fitting that these efforts will be funded by money seized from drug dealers.”
As WPTZ reports, 563 lives were saved in a pilot program in Suffolk County last year, authorities said.
The Guilderland Police Department near Albany is the first agency to get a full reimbursement: $2,100 for kits for 35 officers.
Each kit has two syringes and two inhalers of Naloxone, also sold under the brand name Narcan, and instructions on how to administer the drug, WPTZ said.
Discussion about this post