With the White House charting action in schools nationwide to curb teen drug use and deaths, Charlotte-Mecklenburg leaders plan to stock opioid overdose-reversal medicine in hallways.
While there have been no documented fatal overdoses in Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, some data suggests drug use among students is on the rise. Fentanyl — a synthetic opioid — is pervasive in street-bought drugs, experts say.
Naloxone, an overdose-reversal medicine (commonly called Narcan), will be available in every school, pending CMS board approval, Raynard Washington, Mecklenburg health director, told The Charlotte Observer this week.
We are standing by ready to start,” he said.
The Observer first reported on the district’s plan to allow naloxone in schools in September.
Just last week, the Biden administration sent schools guidance saying kids and teens have easy access to illegal pain pills. The letter — in bolded and underlined font — says schools need to have naloxone on hand and train students and employees on how and when to use it.
As of 2022, 30 states expressly authorized K-12 schools to possess and use naloxone, according to the Legislative Analysis and Public Policy Association. Only one state — Rhode Island — required schools to keep it on hand.