BUFFALO, N.Y. — Governor Andrew Cuomo is introducing legislation that he says will help New York fight the deadly opioid epidemic.

The governor said the U.S. is losing 64,000 people a year to drug overdoses, in large part because of synthetic fentanyl.

New York State is having a hard time keeping up because the drug is synthetic, meaning the people who are making it can slightly change the composition to make it legal.

Cuomo wants the state legislature to pass a bill banning 11 new substances are often used to make the drug.

"It's serious. It's getting worse,” he said. “It's overwhelming the police. It's overwhelming the health care institutions. This fentanyl and synthetic fentanyl is now the tip of the spear."

The governor has also instructed the state’s Department of Financial Services to require insurance companies eliminate arbitrary limits on reimbursements for naloxone, an injection given to people who have overdosed on opioids like fentanyl and heroin.

Cuomo said law enforcement has been having difficulties getting paid back after administering the life-saving drug.