As a co-chair of the Suburban Anti-Heroin Task Force, I’ve seen the unimaginable suffering that heroin has brought onto families in our community, but I still can’t even begin to fathom the pain of losing one of my children to a drug overdose.

Heroin deaths have doubled in the United States in less than a decade. The drug now takes a life every three days in Chicago's collar counties and takes more than one life every day in Cook County. Naloxone, however, has proven to be hugely successful as a life-saving antidote. When used, naloxone helps restore breathing that has been stopped by an overdose. With increased access, the World Health Organization predicts naloxone could save another 20,000 lives every year.

Lali’s Law will increase access to naloxone throughout the United States. The bill is named in memory of Alex Laliberte, a Buffalo Grove, Ill. resident and Stevenson High School graduate, who passed away seven years ago from a drug overdose.

Alex played sports at Stevenson High School, did well in school and cared about his friends and family, but during his sophomore year of college he began being hospitalized for a mysterious illness. Unknown to his family and doctors, Alex had an addiction to prescription drugs and was being hospitalized for his withdrawal. He would stay in the hospital until he received his fix, leave the hospital and repeat the cycle. Alex continued this pattern until he died of an opioid/benzodiazepine overdose a few days after his final exams.

Lali’s Law creates a competitive grant program that will help states increase access to naloxone. The primary purpose of the grant is to fund state programs that allow pharmacists to distribute naloxone without a prescription. Many states use these programs to allow local law enforcement officers to carry and use naloxone.

Lali’s Law has brought Alex’s story to the United States Congress in an effort to amplify the life-saving benefit of Live4Lali's hard work to pass similar legislation in Illinois. It is my hope that through this bipartisan bill, Alex’s lasting legacy will include helping countless people get a second chance at recovery and saving their families from unbearable heartbreak.

Lali's Law was passed by the House 415 to 4 on May 12, 2016. The bill was signed into law as part of the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act of 2016 on July 22, 2016.

Working together we can truly save lives. Read the bill: