And it allowed treatment programs to travel, which would let providers to go help people in rural and underserved areas. This year, the administration released a new overdose prevention strategy and reduced barriers for many health care providers to prescribe medicine for opioid addiction. Wednesday’s announcement follows on the heels of several administrative changes that seek to increase access to treatment and prevention strategies. California’s Good Samaritan Law already protects people offering emergency care from civil damages. The model suggests states eliminate measures that allow prosecution against people who administer naloxone, require having health insurance coverage for it and increase access to it in correctional facilities and schools. On Wednesday, the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy offered a roadmap for states to expand access to naloxone, a drug which can reverse opioid overdoses. It’s an economical, but deadly, concoction. The powerful narcotic is up to 100 times stronger than morphine, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and is 50 times more potent than heroin. It is cheaper to produce than its plant-based counterparts, like heroin and cocaine, and a lot stronger. At the same time, pandemic closures and social distancing protocols forced community networks to roll back prevention, treatment and recovery services, she said.įentanyl is typically used by doctors to treat severe pain, such as advanced stages of cancer. Nora Volkow said in a call with reporters on Wednesday. The coronavirus pandemic has heightened use, National Institute on Drug Abuse Director Dr. Matsui has long pushed for expanding addiction care services and telemedicine options. “We need to address this overdose crisis head on, and that involves raising awareness about how fentanyl is circulating in Sacramento County and getting life-saving tools into the hands of people who need it most,” said Rep. Many people do not realize they are taking fentanyl at all, since it comes laced with or disguised as other drugs.