A bill signed into law by Gov. Mike Braun on Tuesday expands the kinds of opioid reversing medications that can be stocked in Indiana schools.

Citizen Opioid Responders training takes roughly 30 minutes to complete. It covers topics like Naloxone administration, scene safety and good samaritan laws.

Naloxone, also known by its brand name Narcan, can reverse an opioid overdose and save lives when administered in time.

Marion County officials are for the first time working together to release a quarterly report on suspected overdose deaths.

Overdose Lifeline distributed more than 170,000 test strips in 2023. Advocates said they are more interested in saving lives than "getting held up on those gray areas" – which is where the legality of the test strip exists in Indiana code.

Narcan is a nasal-spray version of the life-saving medication naloxone, which can reverse an opioid overdose. It recently became available over-the-counter. Heres what that means for public access.

Fentanyl was involved in the vast majority of all teen overdose deaths – 84% – in 2021, and the problem has been growing. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, fentanyl-related adolescent overdose deaths nearly tripled from 2019 to 2021. And nearly a quarter of those deaths involved counterfeit pills that weren't prescribed by a doctor.

Drug overdose prevention advocates want to combat misinformation and the negative stigma surrounding the use of naloxone, an overdose-reversal drug. Since last June, almost 90 school districts across the state have participated in a program that teaches school staff how to identify drug overdoses and administer naloxone.

A standing order in effect statewide since 2015 allows any adult in Indiana to purchase naloxone without a prescription from registered pharmacies. Both health care professionals and recovery advocates say the FDA’s decision could make Narcan more widely accessible.

HB 1462 would require all emergency departments in the state to provide the Indiana Department of Health a plan that will be implemented when patients have a substance use related emergency.