Have a loved one hooked on heroin or opioids? Have antidote handy

Associated Press

COLUMBUS

Ohio is urging drug users’ relatives and friends and other members of the public to know the signs of an overdose and obtain an antidote as part of a six-month awareness campaign launching Monday.

The effort targets 15 counties hit hard by overdose deaths related to fentanyl. The synthetic painkiller can be laced with heroin or disguised to look like less powerful painkillers, and its prescription form used to treat chronic pain is far more potent than heroin.

The Ohio Department of Health is encouraging drug users’ loved ones to get the overdose antidote naloxone, which can be administered before emergency responders arrive. The state has taken other steps to expand naloxone availability, but this effort is aimed at people who might be shoulder to shoulder with those at risk of overdosing.

Read the full story Monday in The Vindicator and on Vindy.com.