The Chicago Tribune reported Aug. 31 that the group has trained more than 5,000 people to use naloxone, and says the drug has saved the lives of at least 336 opiate addicts over the past four years. "As a physician, this is some of the most rewarding work I've ever done," said Dr. Sarz Maxwell, the group's medical director.

Drug users who get trained by outreach workers from the Alliance can then get naloxone and syringes from Maxwell.

Naloxone is commonly used in emergency rooms to revive overdose victims. But people are often to call authorities when someone overdoses, fearing prosecution. Maxwell said the drug "wakes people up enough that they can walk to the car and go to the hospital. That might be a better idea [to users] than inviting the cops up to your apartment where all your dope is laying out."

Dr.  Richard Feldman, head of the emergency department at Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center, endorsed the training. "It's an extremely rapid-acting, effective and safe drug," he said. 

However, Andrea Barthwell, formerly the demand-reduction chief at the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, said distributing naloxone to addicts reinforced their drug use. "If you engage in strategies that delay confrontation of the disease and application of curative strategies, you actually do more harm than good," Barthwell said.

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