Wis. lawmaker fights heroin with new bills

A northeastern Wisconsin lawmaker has introduced a package of bills designed to combat heroin abuse.

Press-Gazette Media reports (http://gbpg.net/19Z48lz ) that Rep. John Nygren, a Marinette Republican, announced the bills during a news conference Friday at the Brown County Sheriff’s Department. Nygren’s daughter, Cassandra, has been struggling with a heroin addiction.

The proposals would require people picking up prescriptions at pharmacies to show identification, provide limited immunity for people who call 911 to report an overdose, make it easier to drop off narcotics at community drug disposal programs and allow more first responders and paramedics to administer Narcan, a drug that counters the effects of a heroin overdose.

Nygren says none of the bills are “silver bullets.”

The state Justice Department launched a heroin awareness campaign last week.