NEW LONDON - Governor Dannel Malloy signed a bill into law Wednesday that is meant to cut down on heroin and prescription drug abuse.
The new law improves prescription monitoring and increases tools available to health care professionals.
It also makes the heroin antidote "Nalaxone" more available.
According to the Chief Medical Examiner's office, heroin deaths in Connecticut have increased by 57 percent in the last three years.
In Groton there have been four heroin deaths in the first four months of this year.
In many southeastern Connecticut communities, a bag of heroin costs about $5 for less than one-tenth of an ounce.
That's a cheap high, compared to one prescription pill that costs anywhere from twenty to $30.
