Content Warning: Drugs, Overdose, Death
In recent years, opioid overdoses have surpassed motor vehicle accidents and become the leading cause of accidental death in the United States. However, these deaths are preventable. The nasal spray Narcan is a highly effective treatment that can reverse opioid overdoses, and the NYS Department of Health offers resources for schools to provide education about and free access to it. In light of the worsening opioid crisis, IHS should offer these resources to students and staff, many of whom have people in their lives at risk of opioid overdose.
Drug overdose deaths in the US are at an all-time high, with nearly 110,000 drug-related deaths in 2022, more than twice the amount in 2015. Around three quarters of those deaths involved opioids, primarily fentanyl. Around twenty percent of opioid-related deaths in the US are caused by prescription opioids acting as painkillers. Some illicit drugs are laced with fentanyl and users may consequently consume the drug, unaware of its presence. A 2018 study shows that nearly one in three people in the US said they know someone who is or has been addicted to opioids or prescription painkillers. As some IHS students and staff already have people in their life at risk of opioid overdose and many may come across at-risk individuals later in life, The Tattler Editorial Board firmly believes that the opioid crisis should be addressed in our school curriculum.
Narcan contains the chemical naloxone, which binds to opioid receptors and thus reverses overdoses. It is highly effective at stopping overdoses, with a success rate of over ninety percent. When coupled with effective CPR techniques, it can save people suffering from respiratory and cardiac arrest. Although withdrawal symptoms such as anger and confusion are common side effects, Narcan is a life-saving medication that, with the exception of a potential allergic reaction, is harmless. While Narcan on its own is often not enough to keep a person alive, it can effectively hold someone over until emergency medical services arrive. In more severe cases, multiple doses of Narcan might be necessary.
Training is not necessary to carry or administer Narcan, but it is recommended that carriers inform themselves on how to recognize an opioid-related overdose and administer Narcan correctly. You can find Narcan training videos online, such as on Youtube, the CDC webpage, or Narcan’s website narcan.com. Narcan is available in all pharmacies in New York. People without prescriptions or without insurance can have the cost covered by a NYS program. Good Samaritan Laws in New York legally protect those who are trying to save the life of someone they perceive as overdosing from being sued for negligence. If it is found that the person overdosing was taking illegal drugs, it is prohibited that they be arrested for the discovered illegal drug use.
Narcan is a highly effective, easy-to-administer solution to the ever-worsening opioid crisis. Providing education about and free access to Narcan in high schools can help young people protect those in their lives who are at risk of opioid overdose. There are already systems in place in IHS that can inform the student body about public health issues like opioids. As our health curriculum already addresses issues related to drugs, STIs, or life-threatening emergencies, it should be able to provide detailed, practical information about opioid overdoses and Narcan as well. Opioid overdoses could also be addressed in PE class. After all, PE already informs students about CPR and using an AED, life-saving techniques that are more difficult to employ effectively than Narcan. Teachers could inform students about the opioid crisis, the correct administration of Narcan and how to get access to this life-saving medication, within a lesson.
In addition to educating students about the opioid crisis, our high school should offer students free access to Narcan. It is unclear whether some IHS staff carry and are able to administer Narcan, but if they don’t, they should be provided with free access to Narcan as well. The New York State Department of Health provides resources and guidelines to schools on how to get free access to Narcan through the Opioid Overdose Prevention Program System. There are many examples in which similar programs have been effective. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, “A naloxone distribution program in Massachusetts reduced opioid overdose deaths, without increasing opioid use, by an estimated eleven percent in the nineteen communities that implemented the program.”
The resources that allow for people to prevent overdose deaths are out there, but without bringing those resources into high schools and their curricula, they will likely go largely unused. In order to effectively combat opioid overdose deaths, ICSD should implement these programs to further education about and access to opioids.