Drug Overdoses Prompt Public Health Address: Heroin Abuse High in New England

Last week, governors in the New England area acknowledged the increasing use of heroin in their states, and now the issue has caught the attention of the United States Attorney General, Eric Holder.

Governor Peter Shumlin of Vermont mentioned that he wants to increase funding to immediately admit addicts into treatment facilities instead of having some placed on waiting lists. Additionally, Governor Paul LePage of Maine submitted a $3 million proposal to invest money into adding 14 new drug enforcement agents in his state. The use of illegal heroin as well as the abuse of prescription narcotics has been a growing concern in the U.S.

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder made a similar announcement in a video message posted today on the Justice Department's website. He called the increasing use of heroin and the deaths that result from the drug an "urgent public health crisis" and he plans to crack down on the issue in hopes of halting drug dealers and monitoring prescription use by medical patients.

Holder has supported the Obama Administration's suggested increase use and supply of naloxone, an overdose-reversal medication. The government plans to supply more law enforcement agencies with the drug so they can equip and train their personnel to save more lives threatened by drug overdoses.

A total of 17 states and the District of Columbia have permitted more widespread access to naloxone because of the number of fatal heroin overdoses in recent years. Deaths from heroin and prescription opioid overdoses peaked at 16,600 in 2010, which was a 45% increase from 2006. Oddly enough, the DEA has reported a 320% increase in seizes of heroin at the U.S. Mexico border in the past six years.

Naloxone is a blocking agent that reverses the effects of an overdose and helps restore breathing in the affected patients, contributing to 10,000 overdose reversals in the past 12 years. This issue should remain at the forefront of the national discourse until it is mitigated by law enforcement officials.

To read more about U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder and the dangerous presence of heroin in the U.S., visit this Yahoo! News article.