US Attorney General Urges Increase in Accessibility of Naloxone

US Attorney General Eric Holder called the rise in overdose deaths from prescription painkillers and heroin an “urgent public health crisis” and advocated for increased access to and training for the overdose-reversal drug, naloxone, for first responders and law enforcement agencies in a video message on the Department of Justice website. “The transition to – and increase – in heroin abuse is a sad but not unpredictable symptom of the significant increase in prescription drug abuse we’ve seen over the past decade,” Holder stated. “Confronting this crisis will require both a combination of enforcement and treatment. The Justice Department is committed to both.” A Department of Justice press release provides the full text of Holder’s message.