(Molly Bruns, Headline USA) Officials for Los Angeles Unified School District announced that they will allow students to carry Narcan to protect themselves in case of opioid overdose.
Superintendent Alberto M. Carvalho updated the policy that will allow students to carry the medication as the city’s fentanyl epidemic rages out of control.
“Narcan cannot be used to get high, is not addictive and does not have any effect on a person if there are no opioids in their body,” Carvalho wrote in an email to board members.
He also received approval from the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, and added that officials will reissue the updated policies in the coming weeks, reported the Daily Wire.
The current policy only allows staff to access and administer Narcan in case of an emergency. School board members, such as Nick Melvoin, approved of the policy change as a life-saving measure for students who find their lives in jeopardy.
“Narcan has the power to save lives and I’ve been working to expand its access to everyone in our school communities, including students themselves,” Melvoin said. “But the increased use of Narcan as a life-saving measure underscores the drug crisis that’s being brought to our schools.”
“We must do more to address the root causes of this crisis and that starts with education and more support for our youth,” he added.
Fentanyl continues to stream into the United States via the porous southern border.
Recent reports on the effects of fentanyl show that younger demographics are more effected by the drug than any other age group.
A 2022 report from LA County found that 92% of teens who died from drug overdoses tested positive for fentanyl. Several of the deaths were directly related to the opioid.
The drug is 50-100 times more potent than morphine. In 2022, Drug Enforcement Administration said that there was enough fentanyl in the country to kill every American citizen.
