Overdose medications are in high demand on college campuses, where student organizations are increasing access to drugs like Naloxone as a result of the fentanyl crisis which has impacted Americans nationwide.
Fentanyl, a synthetic opioid “50 times stronger than heroin and 100 times stronger than morphine,” according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), has flooded communities around the U.S. Most often, overdoses occur when opioid users consume a drug that has been laced or come in contact with fentanyl.
Naloxone, better known by its brand name, Narcan, is used to treat opioid overdoses. Now, students at some campuses, like Arizona State University (ASU), are providing sorority and fraternity presidents access to overdose prevention, fentanyl testing kits, and Narcan. Students who run the emergency medical services team introduced a “Narcan locator” on the university’s website, giving students and faculty the ability to find the nearest stash of the potentially lifesaving drug.
“With minimal training requirements, and packaged in an easy-to-use device, Narcan is a miracle drug that is proving to be a pivotal harm-reduction strategy in the battle against increasing opioid overdoses,” the website reads. An interactive map shows users where the nearest fentanyl test kits, medical services, and Narcan can be found.
According to The Daily Signal, which spoke with sorority and fraternity presidents, ASU’s student-led medical services team has “collaborated with Greek-life organizations and is now turning its sights toward dormitory buildings to ensure more students have access to the lifesaving effects of Narcan.”
Border states in particular have been hit the hardest by illegal drug trafficking across the U.S.-Mexico border. According to the Arizona Department of Health Services (DHS), there have already been 161 confirmed opioid deaths in the state, and 826 non-fatal overdoses. The department claims that approximately five people die each day in the state as a result of opioid overdose. Last year, 1,920 people died from opioid overdose in Arizona and there were more than 4,000 non-fatal overdoses recorded by the state DHS.
In Texas last year, authorities confiscated more than 450 million lethal doses of fentanyl, according to Lieutenant Governor Mike Kehoe.
However, border states aren’t alone in this crisis. Cities that have decriminalized certain drugs or weakened enforcement actions have seen a spike in overdose deaths too. Last year, San Francisco documented a record number of drug overdose deaths, averaging 3 deaths a day from fentanyl alone.
