Naloxone Access Urged for Increasing U.S. Heroin Users

Relatives of heroin addicts should be allowed to keep an overdose antidote available as use of the illegal drug surges in the U.S., prompted by increased abuse of prescription painkillers, federal drug officials said.

As the street values of medicine-cabinet pills rise because of federal limits on their access, abusers have turned to drugs such as heroin that cost less, said Gil Kerlikowske, director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy. It’s a “growing national crisis” that must be addressed with a new national focus on prevention and treatment, he said.