LANSING, Mich. (WLNS) – Dozens of people rallied in front of the Capitol Wednesday calling for legislation to make overdose reversal medication universally available, without charge.

The advocates were calling for approval of more potent reversal medications than Narcan to be made available for the public.

Greg Swan is the co-founder of Fentanyl Fathers. He was on site Wednesday demonstrating how to use a naloxone delivery device to reverse an opioid overdose.

Michigan advocates push for free access to stronger opioid reversal medications, like Kloxxado. (WLNS)

“Basically, grab this thing,” he says of the delivery device. “Shove up the nose and unload it like this.”

The father has been on a personal journey to save others who may have stumbled on the same path as his son, Drew.

“I lost my son, Drew, to synthetic opioids,” he says. “We want to make sure everybody has access to this. A year from now, this should be as ubiquitous as a fire extinguisher is.”

In 2023, more than 3,000 Michiganders died from overdose.

Senate Bill 542 is designed to reduce those numbers.

If approved, the legislation would allow more potent overdose reversal drugs, like Kloxxado, to be available for free to distributors working with the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services.

“This is a tool that we need to get in the public’s hands,” says Steve Ahles, of the Rotary Club of Southgate. “And get as much of this out there as we can. We are just losing way too many people.”

Officials tell 6 News the more potent products can save a life within seven minutes of someone overdosing. Using the rescue tool is even easier.

“So, just taking two minutes to come over here and learn how to use it, I guess I could save someone’s life,” says Austin Kidd. “And I know if I was on the end of it, I’d want people out there armed with the knowledge on how to give me help.”

While Swan’s son Drew isn’t alive anymore, his mission is to save lives.

“I am certain there is kids who would have been slated to die, that alive today, because my son Drew passed away,” he says.

Naloxone, the drug in Narcan, is available to anyone in Michigan over-the-counter, and without a prescription. The reversal agent is also distributed for free from vending machines, including inside the Ingham County Health and Human Services Building in Lansing.