More adults in the US now die from drug overdoses than from traffic accidents.
To reduce the number of deaths, the US attorney general has released a video message calling for law enforcement staff to change the way they deal with heroin abuse.
The government is calling for a shift from arresting users to saving their lives.
A doctor convinced the Ohio state legislature to change the law so that police officers, usually the first on the scene, can administer a $20 life-saving drug to people who have overdosed.
Al Jazeera's Patty Culhane reports from Lorain County, Ohio.
