Gov. Greg Abbott says state should fund distribution of medication that can reverse opioid overdose

Join The Transient, our day by day publication that retains readers in control on probably the most important Texas information.

Texans in search of assist for substance use can name the Substance Abuse and Psychological Well being Providers Administration’s free assist line at 800-662-4357. They’ll additionally entry providers accessible of their area by way of the Texas Well being and Human Providers web site.

BEAUMONT — Gov. Greg Abbott on Monday mentioned the state ought to fund the distribution of an overdose reversal treatment to assist curb the rising variety of opioid-related deaths.

Throughout a press convention on the Division of Public Security headquarters in Beaumont, the governor blamed President Joe Biden’s border insurance policies for permitting an inflow of fentanyl, an artificial opioid that has contributed to a nationwide enhance in overdose deaths. However in a marked shift from his earlier laser concentrate on border safety, Abbott mentioned the state ought to start funding distribution of Narcan, a drug that reverses and blocks the results of opioids together with fentanyl.

“The underside line is, that is one thing we’ve to distribute throughout the state of Texas,” Abbott mentioned. “We’ll have to search for the areas the place fentanyl is discovered most predominantly and ensure Narcan is well accessible there.”

Abbott mentioned the drug needs to be given to legislation enforcement companies, and should even be despatched to some hospitals and faculties.

The governor didn’t make clear how the drug distribution could be funded.

A federally funded state program referred to as “Extra Narcan Please” that provides out the life-saving drug free of charge ran out of cash in January, partly attributable to excessive demand.

In line with the Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention, 107,000 individuals died from overdoses in 2021, a 15% enhance from 2020. From April 2021 to April 2022, 4,839 Texans died of a drug-related overdose, a 63.4% enhance in fatalities over the past three years, based mostly on CDC estimates.

For the previous few months, Abbott has centered on the U.S.-Mexico border, investing thousands and thousands of {dollars} in Operation Lone Star. He lately declared Mexican cartels that produce and visitors fentanyl to be terrorist organizations and referred to as on the president to do the identical.

“Cartels are terrorists, and it’s time we began treating them that means,” Abbott mentioned on Monday.

In the course of the information convention, Abbott additionally unveiled a brand new public data marketing campaign referred to as “One Tablet Kills” to tell communities concerning the devastating results of fentanyl. He mentioned a number of state companies, together with the Well being and Human Providers Fee and the state’s schooling division, would play a task in educating the general public about fentanyl.

He additionally referred to as for brand new legal guidelines, together with one that might designate fentanyl-related deaths as poisonings as a substitute of overdoses. One other proposed legislation would enable prosecutors to cost an individual with homicide in the event that they lace a drug that causes a drug overdose with fentanyl.

Abbott has made the inflow of opioids throughout the southern border a trademark problem throughout his reelection marketing campaign. Throughout one among Democratic challenger Beto O’Rourke’s marketing campaign occasions earlier this yr, members of Abbott’s marketing campaign group distributed empty fentanyl bottles to attendees. The labels on the bottles learn “Beto Biden Open Border Disaster.”

O’Rourke hasn’t positioned the fentanyl problem entrance and middle on the marketing campaign path throughout his 2022 run for governor. However throughout his unsuccessful bid for president in 2020, he unveiled a plan to deal with the disaster by, amongst different initiatives, tackling the unlawful importation of fentanyl and making certain entry to remedy.