(WHTM) — Pennsylvania saw 5,350 drug overdose deaths in 2021, up three percent from 2020. Nearly 80 percent of drug overdoses were involved with the deadly opioid fentanyl.

Midstate Senator Doug Mastriano — and people impacted by substance use — are promoting a new law that aims to save some of those lives. It requires all law enforcement agencies to report drug overdoses to a statewide mapping system.

The mapping system is not available publicly; right now, it is only available to authorized agencies like law enforcement, health officials, and local government leaders. Advocates say with this data, those agencies can get resources where they are needed most.

More than two years ago, Laura Shanafelter lost her son Tyler to a drug overdose after he took pills laced with fentanyl.

“That dealer didn’t just take my son’s life, he took my life too,” she said.

A Shippensburg resident, Shanafelter said she was tired of seeing young people killed by the opioid epidemic.

“I don’t want other parents to go through what I go through on a regular basis,” she said.

She reached out to Senator Mastriano, who was working on legislation to address the issue.

“A crisis that’s cutting down so many beautiful people, many far too young,” Mastriano said of the epidemic.

One law, Act 158, took effect at the start of 2023.

“This new law will improve overdose response, help those with addictions get the treatment they need to get out of this web, this cycle of addiction, as well as getting these drug traffickers off the streets,” Mastriano said.

Act 158 requires law enforcement to report overdoses to a statewide data tracking and mapping system.

“Sort of like a jigsaw puzzle, as you start to put the pieces together, you get to understand what the real picture behind it is,” said Jeremiah Daley, executive director of the Liberty Mid-Atlantic High-Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Program, which helps public health and law enforcement deal with drug overdoses.

Daley said the system saw 2,000 reports in the first three months of the year. Urban centers are predictable hotspots, but there are other trends.

“We’re starting to see a pattern of overdose events happening along our highway systems,” Daley said.

Advocates said collecting information — like where an overdose happened, whether Narcan was used, and what drugs were used — shows where to send resources.

“We can get the Narcan there, we can get the law enforcement there,” Shanafelter said.

It can also help get them to the people who need it before it’s too late.

“I don’t want my son’s death to be in vain,” Shanafelter said.

Mastriano said there is still more work to be done. He has also introduced “Tyler’s Law” — named after Laura’s son. It would set a mandatory minimum of 25 years in prison for dealers who sell fentanyl that results in death.