The fentanyl crisis is spilling onto school campuses across California.
Death rates are soaring among teens from the powerful opioid, and educators are finding themselves on the front lines of a battle against a drug that is 100 times more potent than morphine. The alarming danger is that drug traffickers are lacing fentanyl into counterfeit versions of less dangerous drugs that kids can easily buy online, experts say. So it’s striking down kids who aren’t hardened drug addicts but may actually be inexperienced or unaware of what they are ingesting.
Click here to read the Bay Area News Group special report Fentanyl on Campus.
Overdose deaths — some on campus — are leading schools across California to take action. Many are training teachers and staff to recognize the dangers of fentanyl and on how to use a nasal spray version of a drug called naloxone, known better by its brand name Narcan, that can reverse the effects of a fentanyl overdose.
A Bay Area News Group survey of 42 school districts in Alameda, Contra Costa, Santa Clara, San Francisco and San Mateo counties found only 40% have already trained their staff and fewer have stocked up on Narcan, but many districts said they were planning on doing both in the next two months.
Is your school ready?
You can find your district’s response below. School districts that did not respond after repeated emails and inquiries are noted.
Source: www.mercurynews.com