Rep. Clark Takes Swing at Heroin Epidemic

WASHINGTON—With the heroin epidemic invading communities in Massachusetts, Congresswoman Katherine Clark along with Congressman Robert Dold of Illinois are introducing new legislation to fight back against the epidemic.

Clark, who represents a district encompassing Woburn, and Dold introduced bipartisan legislation which will increase the availability of naloxone throughout the United States. The bill comes in response to the increasing amount of overdose-related deaths in the U.S., which have quadrupled in the past decade, according to the announcement of the legislation.

“Across Massachusetts and the nation, too many parents are desperately trying to save their child from the opioid crisis’ deadly grip,” Rep. Clark said in the announcement. “Lali’s Law is a commonsense bill that will save lives. I hope Congress will quickly act on this bill and other reforms to end the scourge of this deadly public health crisis.”

The bill, entitled Lali’s Law, is named after Alex Laliberte from Illinois’s Tenth Congressional District, who passed away from an overdose. Laliberte struggled with addiction to prescription drugs, passing from an overdose a few days after his final exams.

“As a mother who has had to bury her child that passed away as the result of an accidental drug overdose, this is both an exciting and very reflective time for me,” Laliberte’s mother Jody Daitchman said. “Alex was a beautiful boy with so much ahead of him and his life was cut short at the age of 20. The sadness that goes with the journey of grief over the last 7 years also has a bright side to it - this being as a result of hard work to fight for what needs to be done legally as a result of way too many overdoses and death because of this horrible disease. As a mother, this is a very proud moment for me and I am excited for those that get another chance at life.”

The bill creates a competitive grant program increasing acess to the bill. With the grant, pharmacists will be able to distribute naloxone without a prescription.

Photo via Clark’s website.