The Sandy Springs City Council recently agreed to accept a $14,400 sub-grant to equip all frontline police officers with Narcan, a Naloxone product designed specifically to be administered via the nasal cavity to individuals experiencing an overdose.

Georgia’s Criminal Justice Coordinating Council was awarded a federal grant through the Bureau of Justice Assistance FY20 Comprehensive Opioid, Stimulant, and Substance Abuse Program and then made the funds available to local agencies for various programs, including to purchase Naloxone products.

State law allows first responders to carry and administer this medication and provides immunity from civil and criminal liability when administered.

Each dose costs $37.50 and the Sandy Springs Police Department will purchase 384 devices to equip employees and create a back-up supply. The department’s current inventory of devices is depleted and most remaining devices are past their three-year shelf life. Expired devices will be turned over to the Atlanta Harm Coalition.

About the Author

Keep Reading

There were 425 traffic-related deaths last year in Clayton, Cobb, DeKalb, Fulton and Gwinnett counties. (Ben Hendren for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution)

Credit: Ben Hendren

Featured

Austin Walters died from an overdose in 2021 after taking a Xanax pill laced with fentanyl, his father said. A new law named after Austin and aimed at preventing deaths from fentanyl has resulted in its first convictions in Georgia, prosecutors said. (Family photo)

Credit: Family photo