Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne announced the creation of a new Arizona Department of Education (ADE) task force to educate students about the dangers posed by the synthetic opioid fentanyl and provide emergency Narcan for school staff to reverse potentially fatal overdoses.
Horne (pictured above) announced the formation of the School Training Overdose Preparedness and Intelligence Taskforce (STOP-IT) on Tuesday, revealing the new effort will educate children about the dangers of fentanyl and other opioids while providing schools with resources to save lives.
“As a border state through which fentanyl is trafficked, Arizona youth are particularly vulnerable to the front line effects of this battle,” said Horne. “This is the problem with us being the border state, half the fentanyl actually comes through Arizona.”
He explained the organizational structure of STOP-IT “will include representatives from schools, healthcare, law enforcement and other interested stakeholders” with meetings open to the public, and said it will have educational materials available to children before the end of the 2023-2024 school year.
STOP-IT will also provide the training and guidance mandated to allow caregivers and other personnel on school campuses to administer Narcan to students.
“Narcan is a lifesaving medication that quickly and temporarily reverses an overdose,” said Horne. “This allows time for the overdosed person to be transported to a hospital so that he or she can get the care they need to recover.”
Explaining the need for Narcan on school campuses, Horne said, “Sadly, overdoses are a reality for teenage children throughout Arizona. Fentanyl can kill students within minutes of an overdose. It is vitally important that all schools have Narcan available to help save student lives if it should happen on campus.”
The superintendent added that Narcan retails for $45 for two doses.
According to the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), just two milligrams of fentanyl are enough to cause a fatal overdose in adults.
The agency reported that 42 percent of pills tested contain at least two milligrams, with the agency finding “counterfeit pills ranging from 0.2 to 5.1 milligrams of fentanyl per tablet.”
More than five Arizonans die daily due to opioid overdoses, according to the Arizona Department of Health Services, which considers the opioid epidemic a public health emergency.
Watch Horne’s full press conference:
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Tom Pappert is the lead reporter for The Tennessee Star, and also reports for The Pennsylvania Daily Star and The Arizona Sun Times. Follow Tom on X/Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
