New laws help reduce overdose deaths

New Mexico is taking a comprehensive approach to fight drug abuse

New Mexico is taking a comprehensive approach to fight drug abuse in our state. Earlier in the year, two important bills designed to help reduce overdose deaths were signed by Gov. Susana Martinez.

The first law expands access and availability of naloxone through standing orders.

Naloxone quickly reverses the effects of an opioid overdose, allowing time to get the patient emergency care. You can now walk into pharmacies in New Mexico and get naloxone without a prescription.

Naloxone doesn’t produce a high so those struggling with drug addiction can’t abuse it. Centennial Care also covers naloxone.

In the first half of this year, there were 700 Medicaid claims for Naloxone, up from 288 claims in all of 2015.

The other law requires doctors to check the state’s prescription monitoring program before prescribing an opioid to patients for the first time, and then at least every three months after that for people who are chronically prescribed opioids.

Turquoise Lodge Hospital in Albuquerque, which is operated by the Department of Health, is also helping with its services for adults.

From July of 2015 to June of 2016, Turquoise Lodge Hospital served more than 1,000 adult patients. We are renewing our effort to focus on the adult population and are expanding our medical detoxification and social rehabilitation services.

We are also working to begin providing an Intensive Outpatient Program for adults where patients can attend 12 to 15 hours of group programming to address their addiction issue.

While Turquoise Lodge Hospital is not licensed to provide long-term maintenance for opiate replacement, the facility plays an important role in helping New Mexicans struggling with addiction.

We are one of the many service providers in the state, and recognize that it will take the cooperation of many other stakeholders to make a difference.