{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["http://susanwbrooks.house.gov/media-center/in-the-news/ag-zoeller-announces-additional-grant-for-training-equipping-first", "AG Zoeller announces additional grant for training, equipping first responders with Naloxone", "2016-10-05", "2016", "2016-10", "Republican", "House", "IN", "Susan Brooks", "B001284", "susanwbrooks.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "INDIANAPOLIS \u2013 The Indiana Attorney General\u2019s Prescription Drug Abuse Prevention Task Force will distribute an additional $400,000 grant to equip first responders with naloxone, the fast-acting antidote for people who have overdosed on prescription opioids or heroin.\nLast January, Zoeller awarded an initial grant to Overdose Lifeline, Inc., the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department, and the Indiana State Police in response to the growing overdose epidemic throughout Indiana. The grant allowed the organizations to purchase nearly 7,500 kits. More than 5,000 kits have already been distributed to first responders to at least 45 counties statewide, and has resulted in at least 90 lives being saved since the program began.\n\u201cI\u2019m proud of the men and women in law enforcement who have always been there to serve and protect us, but now take on this new role of saving lives as first responder during this opioid epidemic,\u201d Attorney General Greg Zoeller said. \u201cIt\u2019s up to all of us to find ways to become involved and seek solutions to this public health crisis that is devastating lives across Indiana.\u201d\nThe new grant will be administered by the nonprofit organization, Overdose Lifeline, Inc., a main provider of naloxone training and kits. Overdose Lifeline will expand efforts and prioritize counties that have not received initial kits and high risk counties. The Naloxone kits distributed are in the form of a nasal spray sold as Narcan, the brand name for naloxone, and work by reversing the effects of an overdose of heroin or other opiates.\n\u201cHigh-risk individuals are more vulnerable than ever to increasing numbers of overdoses on the new form of heroin laced with fentanyl. This synthetic drug has increased heroin\u2019s potency by 30- to 50 times and now is the time to strengthen our state\u2019s response to this epidemic.\u201d Zoeller added.\nZoeller was joined by Justin Phillips the founder and president of Overdose Lifeline. She formed the nonprofit following the death of her 20-year-old son, Aaron, to a heroin overdose, three years ago this coming weekend.\n\u201cOverdose Lifeline\u2019s primary goal is to have naloxone available for anyone to have in their hands and use it with those at risk of overdosing from opioids,\u201d said Justin Phillips, founder/president of Overdose Lifeline. \u201cIf just one young life is saved by a first responder administering naloxone, then our efforts are worth it.\u201d\nIn 2015, Aaron\u2019s Law was passed, which allows for layperson access to Naloxone. For more information on Overdose Lifeline and resources available, please visit here.\nThe naloxone grant program is paid for with settlement funds received by the Office of The Indiana Attorney General for off-label and deceptive marketing by pharmaceutical companies.\n7th Annual Drug Abuse & Heroin Symposium\nAttorney General Greg Zoeller, creator and co-chair of the Indiana Prescription Drug Abuse Prevention Task Force, will host the 7th-annual Indiana Prescription Drug Abuse Symposium on Oct. 13-14. Space is still available and the public can register here.\nThis year\u2019s symposium, titled \u201cRebuilding the Hoosier Heartland\u201d, offers sessions on arming communities with strategies for curtailing abuse and providing treatment.\nThe symposium will for the first time focus on heroin abuse and how to reduce its supply. Special guests at the symposium include Congresswoman Susan Brooks, Attorney General of the State of Puebla, Mexico Victor Carranc\u00e1 Bourget, and this year\u2019s keynote speaker Sam Quinones, author of the book, Dreamland.\nSam Quinones is a journalist, storyteller, former LA Times reporter, and author of three acclaimed books of narrative nonfiction.\nVisit\u00a0www.BitterPill.IN.gov\u00a0for more information about the Attorney General\u2019s Prescription Drug Abuse Prevention Task Force, naloxone expansion efforts and other responses to the state\u2019s opioid overdose crisis.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["http://susanwbrooks.house.gov/media-center/in-the-news/ag-zoeller-announces-additional-grant-for-training-equipping-first"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.6966658402234316, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}