{"id":33654,"date":"2016-03-01T16:07:33","date_gmt":"2016-03-01T22:07:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/?p=33654"},"modified":"2016-03-01T16:07:33","modified_gmt":"2016-03-01T22:07:33","slug":"naloxone-legal-in-illinois-congressman-tries-to-make-it-nation-wide","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/naloxone-legal-in-illinois-congressman-tries-to-make-it-nation-wide\/","title":{"rendered":"Naloxone legal in Illinois, Congressman tries to make it nation wide"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Jack Adams<\/strong><\/p>\n

In 2008, Jody Daitchman walked into the room of her son, Alex Laliberte, and found him lifeless. He had overdosed on prescription painkillers. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s an experience like no other,\u201d Daitchman said, \u201dnot like your 90-year- old grandmother dying, who\u2019s lived a full life. This was a 20-year-old with his life ahead of him.\u201d <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\n

Related stories <\/h2>\n

Alex and the fight for Naloxone<\/a>\n<\/div>\n

Last month, U.S. Rep. Robert Dold (R-Ill) announced his sponsorship for H. R. 4586 \u2018Lali\u2019s Law.\u2019 Named in memoriam of Laliberte, Lali\u2019s Law would allow states to apply for federal grant funding, enabling pharmacies to carry naloxone, a drug that can reverse an opioid overdose. <\/p>\n

On February 22, Dold announced Lali\u2019s Law at the Arlington Heights offices of Live4Lali, an organization Daitchman founded in 2009 to push Illinois legislation to provide naloxone. Last year, Live4Lali advocated for the passage of the Illinois Heroin Crisis Act, which allowed pharmacists to dispense naloxone without a prescription. <\/p>\n

The grants last for three years and provide up to than $500,000. <\/p>\n

Dold said he hopes Alex\u2019s story will help overdose victims and their families get a second chance at life.
\n\u201cI can\u2019t even begin to fathom the pain of losing one of my own children to a drug overdose,\u201d Dold said. <\/p>\n

Laliberte\u2019s sister, Chelsea, has worked full-time at Live4Lali for two years. She said the organization works hard to dispel the stigma of addiction so that addicts might feel more comfortable seeking treatment. For those ready to seek treatment, Live4Lali directs them to the right services for potential recovery.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is our American problem,\u201d Chelsea Laliberte said. <\/p>\n

Mundelein Police Chief Eric Guenther, who spoke at the Lali\u2019s Law announcement, said some of the 55 officers under him said they wanted to do more for victims of drug overdoses, but without Naloxone, they were forced to wait for paramedics to arrive on the scene. <\/p>\n

\u201c(The officers) would just stand there and watch,\u201d Guenther said.<\/p>\n

Circumstances have improved since that time. Today many Lake County police officers have been trained in naloxone use since the passing of the Heroin Crisis Act. In the past year, Guenther said, police officers have saved 56 lives in Lake County, home to Mundelein. <\/p>\n

Chelsea Laliberte said her brother used heroin to escape anxiety and depression.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe didn\u2019t want to do heroin,\u201d Laliberte said. \u201cHe just wanted to live life without pain.\u201d <\/p>\n

Chris Reed, a recovering heroin addict who spoke at the Live4Lali press conference, said he also didn\u2019t want to use heroin but was afraid of sobriety.<\/p>\n

\u201c(Drug addiction) eventually wears you down until you\u2019re an empty shell of a human being.\u201d Reed said. \u201cThere\u2019s nothing to live for.\u201d<\/p>\n

While still addicted to heroin, Reed was revived three times in one week by naloxone.<\/p>\n

Since achieving sobriety in 2009, Reed founded New Directions, which helps put current addicts in touch with treatment services. He also created a \u201csober bar\u201d for recovering addicts to enjoy a social life while remaining sober. <\/p>\n

\u201cNone of that would have been possible if I wasn\u2019t saved by naloxone,\u201d Reed said.<\/p>\n

The Federal version of Lali\u2019s Law was submitted to the Committee on Energy and Commerce for review on February 23. <\/p>\n

Photo at top: U.S. Rep. Robert Dold addressed a crowd at Live4Lali’s Arlington, IL headquarters (Patrick Martin\/MEDILL) <\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Jack Adams In 2008, Jody Daitchman walked into the room of her son, Alex Laliberte, and found him lifeless. He had overdosed on prescription painkillers. \u201cIt\u2019s an experience like no other,\u201d Daitchman said, \u201dnot like your 90-year- old grandmother dying, who\u2019s lived a full life. This was a 20-year-old with his life ahead of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":240,"featured_media":33661,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[585],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-33654","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-winter-2016"],"yoast_head":"\nNaloxone legal in Illinois, Congressman tries to make it nation wide - Medill Reports Chicago<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/naloxone-legal-in-illinois-congressman-tries-to-make-it-nation-wide\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Naloxone legal in Illinois, Congressman tries to make it nation wide - Medill Reports Chicago\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Jack Adams In 2008, Jody Daitchman walked into the room of her son, Alex Laliberte, and found him lifeless. 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