Maine lawmakers are looking to make it easier for public safety workers to administer naloxone.

Naloxone is a drug that can reverse an opioid overdose.

The Maine House recently passed a proposal to authorize law enforcement officers, corrections officers and municipal firefighters to administer or dispense the drug.

The proposal would also remove a requirement that corrections officers must possess a certificate to administer naloxone.

The state is also struggling with a growing number of drug overdose deaths. The number of overdose deaths in Maine increased by nearly a quarter in 2021.

Bill sponsor Rep. Jan Dodge, a Democrat of Belfast, said the goal of the legislation is “distributing this lifesaving drug more widely.”

The state reported last year that naloxone reversed more than 1,100 opioid overdoses between January and November 2020.

The bill proposal still needs more votes in the Maine Legislature.