US police use heroin antidote to save lives

  • 10 years ago
More adults in the US now die from drug overdoses than from traffic accidents.

To reduce the number of deaths, the US attorney general has released a video message calling for law enforcement staff to change the way they deal with heroin abuse.

The government is calling for a shift from arresting users to saving their lives.

A doctor convinced the Ohio state legislature to change the law so that police officers, usually the first on the scene, can administer a $20 life-saving drug to people who have overdosed.

Al Jazeera's Patty Culhane reports from Lorain County, Ohio.

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