ATLANTA — Atlanta pharmacist Ira Katz thinks everyone in Georgia needs to know how to save the life of a stranger or loved one who has overdosed on opioids.

He has done it himself.

“It was 8:30 in the morning and people thought this kid was sleeping in a car outside of the pharmacy,” said Katz, who runs Little Five Points Pharmacy on Moreland Avenue. “Thank goodness the car wasn’t locked.”

Katz opened the door, detected a faint pulse, and shot the nasal opioid-reversal drug naloxone (known by the brand name Narcan) into the man’s nose. Then he administered CPR. The man survived.

More than 1 million Americans weren’t so lucky.

Americans are being killed by drugs laced with the synthetic opioid fentanyl. But the good news is, naloxone, which can reverse fentanyl’s deathly effect, is now available for free in Georgia, and anyone can get it. Drug testing kits, available for a nominal fee at some pharmacies, can also help people avoid overdose deaths.

About 97,000 Americans died from opioid overdoses in 2024, according to the National Institutes of Health. That’s double the number of people who were killed that same year in car crashes, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Opioid deaths in the U.S. jumped 103% from 2017 to 2024, the NIH found, but fell 14% from 2023-2024.

In Georgia, opioid-related overdose deaths increased by 207% from 2010-2020, according to the Georgia Department of Health (DPH).

Chattooga, Bibb, Spalding, Carroll and Richmond counties had the highest rates of overdose in December 2024. The majority of overdose victims were white, split almost evenly among men and women, DPH found.

Overdose by fentanyl accounts for 70% of deaths, the CDC said.

Fentanyl is used in hospitals to treat chronic severe pain or severe pain following surgery. It is also employed by drug cartels to cut costs, since fentanyl is cheaply sourced from China, and 100 times more potent than morphine, the pharmaceutical-grade version of heroin.

Katz says many IV drug users have been spared because they have learned to test heroin for fentanyl before shooting up.

But casual drug users do not necessarily have that experience and have been killed by party drugs like cocaine and pills laced with opioids like fentanyl, Katz said.

About 42% of pills tested for fentanyl contained at least 2 mg of drug, which is considered a potentially lethal dose, according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. The DEA did not specify which year its tests were conducted, or the sample size.

In 2022, Katz led a lobbying campaign to broaden access to naloxone and testing kits, which eventually resulted in Georgia’s free Narcan/naloxone program.

Last April, Gov. Brian Kemp signed a bill that would allow anyone in schools to possess and administer naloxone.

Testing kits cost about $10 each, and are available for fentanyl and xylazine, a veterinary tranquilizer that has been found in some drugs and can also cause death.

Stop HIV Atlanta offers free fentanyl test strips via its website, https://stophivatl.org/free-fentanyl-test-strip/. Pharmacies like Katz’s also sell the test strips and distribute free Narcan/naloxone nasal sprays.

Katz says too few people know about these lifesaving interventions, and he wants more pharmacies to offer all three items.

“I can’t tell you how many people have come back here and told me they used it on somebody and saved a life,” he said. “Test before you use.”

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