Editor’s note: The following article is an op-ed, and the views expressed are the author’s own. Read more opinions on theGrio.
As colleges and universities look ahead to the fall semester, school administrators and public health leaders should take the time to prepare for a growing threat that is showing up on campuses: fentanyl.
Colleges and universities have seen a significant increase in mental health issues and in response, programs and resources have been launched to help students face these challenges. Substance use, specifically opioid use, needs to be at the forefront of the planning as we start to prepare for a new year. Fentanyl has been the major factor leading to the doubling of overdose deaths for ages 12 to 17 since the start of the pandemic, according to a Washington Post analysis of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data. News comes out daily of fentanyl affecting young children, even babies, but the impact on college campuses demands attention.
Fentanyl can be mixed into non-opioid drugs to increase potency, and students are overdosing because of fentanyl-laced drugs, like cocaine and Adderall, which young adults use socially or to increase academic performance. New evidence suggests young adults lack the knowledge of how to intervene during an opioid overdose. College students should be equipped with the tools to combat the crisis at their door. What can higher education do to prepare their students for the changing world around them as it relates to the current opioid crisis?
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Collect data on opioid overdoses on your campus. Where possible, collecting information can help your administration map trends and plan interventions where they may be needed. It also helps reduce the stigma of the issue. No school wants to advertise data that may make their school appear to have a problem, but the more information we share, the more we break down barriers to communicating on an important topic. Our students’ lives are at stake, and we shouldn’t allow embarrassment or assumptions to get in the way.
Ensure students are trained to recognize the warning signs and symptoms of opioid overdoses and ensure education on, and access to, reversal agents. The state of New York recognized the importance of training on opioid overdose reversals, signing legislation that all New York State College housing units to have an opioid antagonist on hand, with Resident Assistants (RAs) training on how to properly administer the agents. I encourage all campuses to similarly host trainings on campus so that staff and students know how to use the tools available to them. At Howard University, Opioid overdose response trainings have been held for the general student population and there are opioid overdose reversal agents available at the student health center as well as fentanyl testing strips. When making decisions on reversal agents to stock, I encourage all campuses to look at what reversal agents are available to them via their state’s standing order – there are various formulations available in multiple states, some that are even specifically indicated for synthetic opioids like fentanyl.
Promote harm reduction methods on campus. Providing evidence-based methods of harm reduction for drug use. This steers away from the traditional model of solely discouraging drug use and addresses that substance use occurs and how to equip students on how to be safe if using substances and how to respond if an overdose were to occur.
Our students are our future, and they are often the most vulnerable. Our higher education institutions need to prioritize data collection, student training, and advocacy efforts to combat this crisis effectively and safeguard their students’ well-being.
Dr. Ebony Rose Copeland, MD, MPH currently serves as the Director of Student Health at Howard University. Prior to her tenure at Howard, she was the Director of Adolescent Medicine at Morris Heights Health Center (MHHC), one of the leading federally qualified health center networks in the Bronx.
