RICHMOND (WVIR) - New measures could soon go into effect to combat the rising number of heroin and prescription drug overdoses in Virginia. A task force meeting took place in Richmond to discuss the measures.
Over the past several months, Virginia's governor, attorney general and a bipartisan group of lawmakers have been looking into what they can do to save lives.
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Each year since 2011, hundreds more Virginians have died from overdoses.
Several bills are now before Governor Terry McAuliffe to sign into law. This includes efforts to expand access to naloxone, a prescription drug that can almost immediately reverse an overdose in progress. Legislation that passed this session would allow police departments to arm their officers with the anti-dote.
Another bill that made it through is a so-called "safe reporting" one. That encourages drug users to call 911 if they see an overdose happening by providing a level of legal protection.
But the war is far from over. Wednesday, a task force assembled by the governor met to discuss what else they think could be done.
"But we made a lot of progress and we're going to keep working on it," said Attorney General Mark Herring.
"We made a number of recommendations, really strong recommendations in the General Assembly, and several of them were passed," said Virginia Secretary of Public Safety Brian Moran.
That included a bill to prosecute those responsible for giving drugs that cause a fatal overdose.
Experts from various fields believe more preventative methods and public awareness could turn around the trend.
The legislature also carried on bills to increase monitoring of prescription drugs. Because of its synthetic similarity to heroin, prescription opioids can be the start of addiction.