Narcan reverses the effects of heroin or opiate-derived drug overdoses.
In an Oct. 29 letter addressed to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Brown asked that grants be made available through existing programs, including the Rural Opioid Overdose program, to assist schools in the acquisition of naloxone and the training of school nurses and other personnel in its use.
“Too many young people are facing drug abuse and drug overdoses,” Brown said in a release. “The National Association of School Nurses and school administrators across the country agree: we need to use every resource available to save young lives.”
The president of the National Association of School Nurses, Beth Mattey, told this news organization that there is a need to address the overall problem of prescription opiate and heroin abuse now: “It is in the community; it is just a matter of time before it is in the schools.”
Bill Wharton, Public Health Educator at Public Health - Dayton & Montgomery County, said there have been no drug overdose deaths in Montgomery County schools. However, he believes in equipping schools with naloxone for preventative purposes.
“You don’t want to be in a situation where you look back and say, ‘If only we had it,’” Wharton said.
According to the Centers for Disease Controls 2013 National Youth Risk Behavior Survey, 17.8 percent of high school students had used a prescription drug, including opioids at least once in their life, 2.2 percent had used heroin and 22.1 percent had used, sold or been offered drugs on school property.
But Dayton grandmother Deborah Ogletree said she disagrees with Brown’s request.
“I believe in our schools we ought to have something called boundaries,” Ogletree said. “And that is far, way outside the boundary of what a school is all about.”
Illinois, Delaware, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Vermont all have laws or programs allowing school nurses and other personnel to administer naloxone at schools. According to Senator Brown’s office, the majority of these states do not, however, provide funding for the acquisition of naloxone or training in its use, and few have decided to maintain a supply at this time.
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