Fentanyl in schools

Naloxone to be distributed at college campuses and universities all across California.

By Sayeh Saadat, Staff Writer

California state officials take actions to battle the fentanyl-overdose epidemic by supplying colleges and universities with Naloxone. Last year, the United States suffered more fentanyl-related deaths than gun and auto-related deaths combined according to the DEA.

Melanie Ramos, 15, of Bernstein High School, and Cade Kitchen 17, of El Camino high school, are the latest school-aged victims of fentanyl, a powerful opioid which is fifty times more powerful than heroin. Gov. Gavin Newsom signed the Campus Opioid Safety Act in late August, which requires Narcan, the name brand for naloxone, a medicine that rapidly reverses an opioid overdose, to be stocked in campus health clinics at every public college and state university in California. Although the bill went into effect at the end of August, it is not clear when Valley college will receive its first shipment of the drug. According to Valley Student Health Education Coordinator Evelyn Pichardo, the logistics will be decided by the LACCD board of trustees in their Nov. 2 meeting.

“We certainly want to make sure that we have Naloxone on hand at the college in case there is an opioid overdose,” said Barry Gibbons, president of Valley college. “We would want to ensure that that's in place, irrespective of any funding or requirements from the state. It's just the right thing to do.”

In the meantime, as LAPD officers have been given the drug and trained to administer it, in the event of an overdose on campus they should be the first ones to be contacted.

The bill was introduced by State Senator Melissa Hurtado and also requires colleges and universities to provide educational materials on preventing overdoses during student orientation.

The drug has many street names including ChinaTown and Poison. According to the National Safety Council, fentanyl accounted for 53,480 deaths in 2020, increasing 95 percent over 2019. The latest data from CDC indicates that more than 107,000 Americans died from a drug overdose in the 12-months ending in January 2022, with 71,450 involving synthetic opioids similar in chemical structure to fentanyl but not routinely detected because specialized toxicology testing is required.

A similar measure was adopted and executed by the LAUSD Superintendent Alberto Carvalho in September to provide all K-12 schools within the district with naloxone. Both programs have been made possible with the cooperation of the County Department of Public Health at no cost to schools and universities through a program called The Naloxone Distribution Project (NDP).

“Too many families are losing loved ones to the disease of opioid addiction,” said Senator Hurtado.” We must take real action now to prevent these deaths and save lives. The Campus Opioid Safety Act will do just that.”