New Mexico Requires Police to Carry Naloxone

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico on Thursday became the first U.S. state to require all local and state law enforcement agencies to provide officers with antidote kits as the state works to curb deaths from opioid and heroin overdoses. Surrounded by advocates and parents who had lost children to overdoses, Gov. Susana Martinez signed legislation that was approved unanimously by lawmakers during their recent session. JEMS: EMS Data Can Help Stop Opioid Epidemic The former prosecutor and two-term Republican governor said she has seen firsthand what drug abuse can do to families and communities. "We're making progress but it's never enough," she said. "We have to keep working hard at this problem and reducing the number of overdoses. Signing this bill is an important step to fight the scourge of drug abuse and overdose fatalities." New Mexico has been working for years to curb what has only recently been identified by the highest levels of the federal government as a national epidemic. The state was the first in 2001 to increase access to the overdose-reversal drug naloxone and a few years later it led the way to release people from legal liability when they assist in overdose situations. New Mexico also was the first state to allow pharmacists to dispense naloxone without a prescription in an effort to expand access to the life-saving drug. JEMS: Should Naloxone Be Available for All First Responders? Other measures enacted by New Mexico in recent years ...
Source: JEMS Administration and Leadership - Category: Emergency Medicine Authors: Tags: News Administration and Leadership Source Type: news