Michael Botticelli, director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, discusses prescription opioid and heroin addiction in the United States on Wednesday in Tulsa. Prescription drug overdose deaths have continued to rise in recent years, largely because of opioid abuse. [Photo by Jaclyn Cosgrove, The Oklahoman]

Oklahoma will serve as one of the first places in the nation where law enforcement officers with the Bureau of Indian Affairs will carry naloxone, a drug that, when properly used in enough time, can reverse the effects of a prescription opioid or heroin overdoses.

Federal officials announced Wednesday at a news conference in Tulsa that, as part of a national effort to reduce overdose deaths, Oklahoma will be among the first to have bureau officers carrying the potentially life-saving drug.

"It's a great first step for Indian Country," said Charles Addington, associate director of field operations for the Bureau of Indian Affairs' Office of Justice Services. "We're trying to get new resources out there because our officers are sometimes faced with being in rural areas with minimal resources, so this is a great first step in moving forward so we can save some lives."

Starting in 2016, about 90 Indian Health Service pharmacies nationwide will begin dispensing naloxone to about 500 Bureau of Indian Affairs' Office of Justice Services officers. The pharmacies also will train the first responders to administer the emergency treatment to people experiencing opioid overdose, leaders said.