LETTER: Give police the opioid reversal drugs they need to save the lives of fentanyl victims

As a public servant at the Ozaukee County Sheriff’s Office for 40 years, with 18 of those as sheriff, I have been committed to helping the people of southeastern Wisconsin. One of the biggest problems our communities face right now is the opioid crisis.

Too often, law enforcement personnel on the front lines today see it with their own eyes. These opioid overdoses do not discriminate—they are happening in our big cities, our suburbs and our rural areas. While Wisconsin is making progress in fighting back and controlling the crisis, law enforcement and first responders need additional help to help save lives.

  Unfortunately, it’s not uncommon for young people to fall victim to a drug poisoning that leads to an overdose. Oftentimes, they don’t know or believe the pill they’re taking could be laced with substances like fentanyl.

According to the Drug Enforcement Agency, drug poisonings, including from hidden substances like synthetic fentanyl, are the leading killer of Americans between the ages of 18 and 45. Often hidden in counterfeit prescription pharmaceuticals like Adderall, Xanax and Oxycontin, fentanyl is so lethal that just two milligrams – the size of a pencil tip – can kill. In fact, fentanyl is 50 times stronger than heroin and 100 times stronger than morphine.

  Wisconsin is facing this epidemic head-on, and strides have been made across government offices and across party lines to combat the crisis and save lives, but barriers still remain. As it stands now, municipalities and front line responders in Wisconsin cannot access all the tools available to them to help reverse opioid overdoses. It is critical that the Wisconsin Department of Health Services updates the current state standing orders to allow for expanded access to all FDA-approved opioid reversal medications.

We must empower those on the front lines with every single tool available now and in the future. Along with continuing education and prevention programs, steps like these can help prevent more unnecessary deaths.

  The time to act is right now. My brothers and sisters who wear the badge and protect and serve want to do just that—protect families from suffering the loss of a loved one from an opioid overdose. They need all the help they can get when combating this epidemic.

Maury Straub is a retired sheriff of Ozaukee County.