EVERETT — Thanks to state legislators, public school students in Snohomish County will soon have expanded access to the opioid overdose reversal medication naloxone.
Last month, lawmakers in both the state House and Senate voted unanimously to pass Senate Bill 5804, requiring all public schools to stock naloxone, also known as Narcan. Another bill, House Bill 2112, would provide free Narcan to high school and college students to take home. The House bill was proposed as part of the state’s operating budget. The Senate Ways and Means Committee is set to decide on the budget this week.
Since 2021, at least 29 youths have died from drug overdoses in Snohomish County, defined as those under age 20. All but one died from fentanyl, a synthetic opioid about 50 times more potent than heroin and 100 times more potent than morphine.
Public high schools in the state with more than 2,000 students have been required to keep naloxone on hand since 2019. But smaller, and often more rural, high schools weren’t required to have the life-saving medication.
“Even in places with the lowest probability (of overdose), the risk is now too great to not have supply,” State Superintendent of Public Instruction Chris Reykdal said. “Suddenly, you have these crafted drugs that are unbelievably potent compared to anything we’ve ever seen.”
He added: “Unfortunately, we have to tell students that one exposure can be life-threatening.”
In the 2020-21 school year, just two doses of naloxone were administered to public school students in Washington, according to data collected by the School Nurse Corps and the state Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction. By 2022-23, that was up to 42 doses. The number could be higher, OSPI spokesperson Katy Payne said, because the survey is optional and not all school districts participate.
Many school districts in Snohomish County, including Arlington, Lake Stevens, Snohomish and Everett, have already made Narcan available districtwide.
“We didn’t feel that the number of enrollment made a difference,” said Krissa Cramer, a nurse in the Arlington School District. “We just felt like it was a good thing to have.”
The district made Narcan available in each school last year. Thankfully, no school in the district has had to put them to use, Cramer said. The district also works with Stilly Valley Health Connections, part of the county’s Public Hospital District No. 3, to provide free overdose prevention classes students and their families.
Sen. Patty Kuderer, D-Bellevue, worked to expand naloxone requirements in schools after Lake Washington High School students approached her with the idea. The updated law requires all public school districts to have naloxone in stock at all education levels, including charter and tribal schools. Each school must have at least two doses of the medication ready for use by a school nurse, medical professional or other trained staff. School districts must also adopt an opioid-related overdose policy by Sept. 1.
“It was clear that this crisis was impacting school districts and schools of all sizes,” said Kuderer, the bill’s prime sponsor. “The students are the real heroes of this story.”
Districts can join a state grant program to receive free naloxone, Kuderer said. Since the state can buy Narcan in bulk, the cost to supply the medication to schools ranges from $50 to $100 per year.
State legislators are also considering a bill with a larger price tag — $745,000 to distribute naloxone and fentanyl test strips to high school, college and university students. The bill would allocate $345,000 for the state Department of Health to provide free take-home Narcan doses to high school students and $400,000 for take-home doses and fentanyl test strips for college students. Schools would make the doses and test strips available across campus, including dorms and vending machines.
From 2019 to 2021, over 60% of overdose deaths among American teens and younger kids happened at home, and two-thirds happened with a bystander present, according to data from the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention.
“We can save innumerable lives of high school and college students if they can take home a nasal inhalant naloxone kit without fear,” said Rep. Gerry Pollet, D-Seattle, a cosponsor of the bill who teaches at the University of Washington’s School of Public Health.
Everett Community College has opioid emergency kits in student housing and other buildings across campus. EvCC offers education for students and staff on how to use them. The college is also working on planting free Narcan and low-cost fentanyl test strips in a vending machine at Parks Student Union.
“It’s vital to have access to naloxone in case of an overdose,” college President Chemene Crawford said. “If this bill passes, it would allow us and other colleges to expand those services, including supplying fentanyl test strips for free.”
If legislators agree to include the bill’s provisions in the state budget, Washington would be the first state in the nation to provide free naloxone for students to have at home to prevent overdoses.
Sydney Jackson: 425-339-3430; sydney.jackson@heraldnet.com; Twitter: @_sydneyajackson.
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