Washington House and Senate lawmakers have unanimously passed a bill requiring all public, charter and certain tribal schools in the state to carry naloxone, an opioid overdose reversal medication also known by the brand name Narcan.

, sponsored by Sen. Patty Kuderer, D-Bellevue, will move to Gov. Jay Inslee鈥檚 desk, where he is expected to sign it into law, Kuderer鈥檚 office said.

鈥淲e all wish we weren鈥檛 here as a nation, but we are,鈥� Kuderer said. 鈥淭his bill is about saving lives.鈥�

Washington has seen a in opioid overdose deaths among young people, particularly due to fentanyl, a cheap and devastating drug.

According to the state Department of Health, rates of opioid-related fatalities among adolescents ages 14 to 18 surged almost threefold from 2016 to 2022. The agency says the increase can largely be attributed to fentanyl.

Current Washington law requires school districts with over 2,000 students to carry at least one box of naloxone in each of its high schools. But students at Lake Washington High School, who brought the bill to Kuderer, that over half of the state鈥檚 districts have fewer than 2,000 students.

The group of students said in a statement that they believe the legislation 鈥渨ill mark a critical turning point in protecting students from the opioid epidemic.鈥�

SB 5804 is part of to combat youth opioid use and the broader opioid epidemic. The state Department of Health in January also said they would offer every high school in Washington a box of naloxone for free.

鈥淒espite being divided along party lines on many things, we鈥檙e unified in this front,鈥� said Rep. Mari Leavitt, D-University Place, during a bipartisan press conference on the opioid epidemic.

is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Washington State Standard maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Bill Lucia for questions: info@washingtonstatestandard.com. Follow Washington State Standard on and .

As the opioid epidemic continues to ravage Washington and the rest of the country, officials are considering new policies to curb youth overdoses and addiction.

Washington鈥檚 Department of Health is offering opioid overdose reversal medication, known as naloxone or Narcan, to every public high school in the state. Gov. Jay Inslee has asked  the Legislature to pass a bill requiring education on opioids in schools. And at the request of Lake Washington High School students, Sen. Patty Kuderer, D-Bellevue, has introduced a bill to require all public school districts to keep naloxone in high schools.

Washington has seen among young people, particularly due to fentanyl, a cheap and devastating drug.

According to the state Department of Health, rates of opioid-related fatalities among adolescents ages 14 to 18 surged almost threefold from 2016 to 2022. The agency says the increase can largely be attributed to fentanyl.

In 2022, at least 31 adolescents ages 10 to 17 and 157 people ages 18 to 24 died from an opioid overdose in Washington,

The state鈥檚 efforts are in line with an October 2023 from the U.S. Department of Education and the White House drug policy office that encouraged schools to educate students about the opioid epidemic and to keep naloxone on hand.

Nationwide, finds that about 22 high school-aged adolescents died each week from overdoses in 2022, driven by fentanyl-laced counterfeit prescription pills. Researchers say teens are often unaware of how likely it is for pills to be laced with fentanyl.

Education on opioids

During a Thursday committee hearing, legislators heard emotional testimony in support of opioid education in schools from Maria Trujillo-Petty, who lost her 16-year-old son, Lucas Petty, to fentanyl poisoning in 2022.

鈥淗igh school is the age that kids feel invincible,鈥� said Trujillo-Petty, a mother of four. 鈥淚t鈥檚 our job as parents and as educators to ensure that our youth is being properly educated and supported through this devastating epidemic.鈥�

The opioid education bill, , requires schools to give opioid and fentanyl-use prevention education at least once a year to all students in seventh and ninth grade. Under the bill, state education officials must also include substance-use prevention in health and physical education learning standards for middle and high schools in time for the 2024-2025 school year.

Representatives from the Office of the Governor, the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction, Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation, educator groups and students at Oak Harbor High School were among those who testified in support.

Only one group, the Washington Association for Substance Misuse and Violence Prevention, raised concerns, asking legislators to involve local community providers in the bill鈥檚 proposed opioid education curriculum.

, it appears SB 5923 would impose the first requirement for education about the drug in Washington鈥檚 schools.

Naloxone in schools

A 2019 law requires school districts with 2,000 or more students to have at least one naloxone kit in each high school. But Lake Washington students who testified on Thursday said , which would require naloxone in high schools of all sizes, is necessary.

Theodore Meek, a student at Lake Washington High School, said more than half of the state鈥檚 districts have . And Sophia Lymberis, a senior at Lake Washington High School, named individual high schoolers who have lost their lives to an overdose.

鈥淲henever a student has an overdose, more than just one person is impacted. Students, parents, teachers and administration all experience the collective trauma that comes with witnessing an overdose,鈥� Lymberis said.

鈥淎s a state, it is inexcusable that we have the resources to give children another chance at life, but do not yet have the legislation to ensure that our students 鈥� my classmates 鈥� are protected,鈥� she added.

First responders and police officers also added their names to backing the bill with the naloxone requirement for schools. No one testified against the legislation.

, schools reported at least 42 uses of naloxone.

Carrying naloxone has increasingly been touted by experts and advocates as a life-saving harm reduction strategy. In August, the Food and Drug Administration approved naloxone for over-the-counter use, and it鈥檚 now available in drugstores for as low as about $50 for two doses.

launched a campaign encouraging young adults and teens to carry naloxone and training them on how to use it.

is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Washington State Standard maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Bill Lucia for questions: info@washingtonstatestandard.com. Follow Washington State Standard on and .

Four teenagers take turns reading steadily from a teleprompter. Their message is as simple as their videos鈥� black and white color scheme: With fentanyl, there is no second chance. 

鈥淟ook, I鈥檓 not here to preach. But you need to be aware of a serious issue,鈥� begins one of now seven public safety announcements written and produced by Arizona鈥檚 Tempe Union High School District students. 

In a conversational tone aimed at their Gen Z peers, the students calmly walk through party scenarios and life saving information about fentanyl, the synthetic opioid responsible for over . As little as two grains of salt, approximately 2 mg, are lethal. The size of a pencil tip.

What began last fall as a marketing club project has since become a nationally-recognized, peer to peer called 鈥淣o Second Chance,鈥� led by four students from two Tempe schools.

Students traversed Arizona and the country, leading local parent workshops and competing in an international competition to quickly spread the word about , commonly laced recreational and counterfeit prescription drugs, and Naloxone or Narcan, the overdose reversal medication. 

The federal Drug Enforcement Administration has just 鈥� one of two projects in the country to be recognized for their prevention work.

Students behind the campaign were motivated by the silence on the deadly trend that has claimed the lives of thousands of teens throughout their state. 

鈥淭here’s this entire world underneath our feet,鈥� Corona del Sol high school senior Jaia Neal told 社区黑料. 鈥淎nd yet I don’t hear any of it on social media, or from any of my friends or parents or anything. It’s like, what is happening? How are people not freaking out that so many people are dying from this?鈥�

A sobering released last year revealed that among 10 to 19 year olds, fentanyl-related overdose deaths increased 182% from 2019 to 2021. Two thirds of them were not alone when they overdosed. 

Nearly all deaths were unintentional 鈥� of synthetic opioid deaths from 2021 were ruled a suicide. 

Such was the case for Ethan Dukes, 16. His mother, Shari, did not know why her early riser did not wake up one Saturday until the autopsy results came in.

In a way, No Second Chances鈥� campaign story begins with Ethan, the track athlete with dreams of being a parent and lawyer.

鈥淥ne pill can kill 鈥� I always say one pill does kill. One pill flipped my entire world around,鈥� his mother, lifetime district administrator and local prevention advocate Shari Dukes said. 

He had gone to bed early, by 10:15, after coming home from a party Friday night. At the time, February of 2019, fentanyl was not on her nor the district鈥檚 radar. 

Shari told her family鈥檚 experience, and frustration over schools鈥� silence for over two years after Ethan鈥檚 death, to the school board and an old colleague, Tempe Union鈥檚 social emotional wellness director, Ron Denne Jr. 

鈥淚 thought, if I don’t know and I’m so involved, then there’s got to be all these other folks. Your kid can’t go to bed one day and not wake up the next,鈥� Dukes said. 

Denne pitched their community relations team and Corona del Sol鈥檚 marketing club advisor 鈥� and students took the torch.

No Second Chance has been meeting and presenting with family survivors, and National Guard and DEA drug trafficking teams. Their videos have been screened during video announcements at high schools within the district. Later this basketball season, some will make an appearance on the Phoenix Suns鈥� jumbotron. 

For those who鈥檝e been doing prevention work for years, the campaign is exactly what鈥檚 been missing: how to reach young people effectively.

In the few months since students wrote and recorded PSAs, the landscape has already shifted. The amount of counterfeit pills containing lethal doses has risen from four in ten to seven in ten, the DEA reports. 

Teens are most commonly accessing fentanyl unknowingly from social media or secondhand from friends who have. Looking for prescription drugs, youth find laced, counterfeit Oxycodone, known as blue M30 pills, Percocet or Xanax.

鈥淧eople don’t know what they don’t know鈥� we want them to understand that there are bad people that are using social media platforms to sell drugs,鈥� said National Guard Sergeant Tommy Morga, who helps lead the Arizona Counter Drug Task Force. 

Compounding concerns, fentanyl is hard to accurately test for. Drugs are mixed unevenly; scraping one side of a pill may yield a false negative. Some THC vapes are impossible to take apart. 

Just six years ago, fentanyl was a rarity outside of medicinal use as an anesthetic particularly for cancer patients. But the drug, 50 to 100 times more powerful than morphine, has ravaged parts of the country, particularly border areas, like Tempe Union鈥檚 , one of the nation鈥檚 most populous.

In Texas alone, have sought to authorize Narcan and emergency training for educators and schools. California last month, requiring school safety plans include opioid training. In , advocates are pushing for harm reduction approaches like Tempe Union鈥檚, instead of abstinence or zero tolerance messaging. 

Almost immediately after the PSAs debuted at Tempe Union鈥檚 high schools, emails from teachers rolled in: thank you for showing these, my brother died of an overdose; my cousin is addicted. 

Today, 10 doses of Narcan are available at five locations at each high school. Buses are stocked. About 50 students and 250 staff have been trained to administer it, including all nurses, security guards and transportation teams. QR codes to make confidential counselor appointments are posted throughout campuses. The districts鈥� teachers can access free counseling through Talkspace and longterm support via .听

At Corona del Sol, Neal never crossed paths with Ethan, four years her elder. But while presenting at a DEA teen academy meeting, she revealed her link to him, trading confidence for pained frustration. 

How could they walk the same halls, have the same teachers, and not know Ethan died from fentanyl poisoning?

鈥淗ow did we not know,鈥� Neal asked, 鈥渉ow close it is to us?鈥�

As illegal opioid use rises among young people, several bills filed by state lawmakers would require Texas teachers to be trained and equipped to treat fentanyl overdoses, both on campus and at school-related events.

Several bills call for educators and school staff at public, charter and private schools, as well as those at colleges and universities, to know how to reverse deadly opioid overdoses with Narcan and other overdose medications known as 鈥渙pioid antagonists.鈥�

Eight bills calling for some sort of opioid emergency training for school personnel have been filed by Democrats: state. Sen. of San Antonio and state Reps. of San Antonio, of Mission, of Houston, of Driftwood, of Austin; and Rep. of Round Rock.

Get stories like this delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for 社区黑料 Newsletter

These bills cover a wide range of topics regarding the use of overdose reversal medications, including allowing physicians to dispense such medication to schools without requiring identification of the user and setting training standards for school personnel.

鈥淲e are adding this to the things that we鈥檝e already done in the past when it comes to epinephrine pens and medication for people who suffer from asthma,鈥� said Men茅ndez, author of . 鈥淲e鈥檙e just saying that this is important as other lifesaving measures that you have in schools.鈥�

Narcan (the brand name for the drug naloxone) or other opioid antagonists would be stored on campuses and school personnel would be trained in its use. All of these bills would also require the state health commissioner to establish an advisory committee to conduct a follow-up review after each time the medication is used.

Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid that is up to 50 times stronger than heroin and 100 times stronger than morphine. Prescription fentanyl can be taken safely when prescribed by doctors. But a rise in its illicit use began during the pandemic and continues today.

鈥淐urrently, an opioid epidemic is sweeping the nation, and Texas is not an exception,鈥� said Hannah Reinhard, chief of staff for Cortez. 鈥淭his bill comes from the fact that anyone can suffer from addiction and a potential overdose. Not only that, but children can easily mistake an opioid for candy and risk devastating effects.鈥�

These bills would put Texas in line with similar states like that have provided naloxone, the overdose-reversing nasal spray, to schools through a grant program.

鈥淭he more people authorized to administer naloxone, the better,鈥� said Katharine Neill Harris, a drug policy fellow at Rice University鈥檚 Baker Institute for Public Policy. 鈥淚鈥檝e heard from some people who have tried to get naloxone in schools that nurses/teachers have felt they aren鈥檛 allowed to administer it. The law would clear up any liability concerns and thus encourage more schools to have it available throughout campuses.鈥�

Men茅ndez鈥檚 bill doesn鈥檛 specify how the medication and the training would be funded, but the San Antonio lawmaker believes settlement funds the state has received from opioid companies should be more than enough. Texas is estimated to receive about over the course of 18 years from three large pharmaceutical distribution companies through a settlement agreement reached in 2021.

, authored by Talarico, would allow the state to use money from the opioid settlement to purchase opioid antagonists in bulk from manufacturers to decrease the price burden on organizations distributing the medication. First responders and groups that work with people who use drugs have difficulty supplying Narcan because of its cost 鈥� about $125 for a kit with two doses.

Nationwide, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that from drug overdoses in 2021, the last available year. Synthetic opioids were responsible for 71,000 of those deaths, and they were largely from fentanyl.

Opioid overdose deaths increased by 94% among people ages 14 to 18 from 2019 to 2020 and by 20% from 2020 to 2021, the CDC reported. Since the pandemic began, there鈥檚 been to fentanyl and other opioids through social media.

In Texas, the CDC more than 5,000 people died of drug overdoses between October 2021 and October 2022. Overdose deaths involving fentanyl in the state rose , from 333 people dying in 2019 to 1,662 people in 2021.

A majority of people who ingested a fatal dose of fentanyl had no idea the synthetic opioid had been laced with other drugs they were attempting to use.

Makers of illegal drugs often use fentanyl as a booster for other drugs they are selling,

Since September, Carrollton-Farmers Branch Independent School District in the Dallas-Fort Worth area has reported while six others were hospitalized, all from fentanyl overdoses. Four Hays Consolidated Independent School District students died last year from fentanyl overdoses. None of these occurred on school campuses.

Just 2 milligrams of fentanyl can be a lethal dose depending on a person鈥檚 body size, tolerance and past usage, according to the .

The agency that fentanyl is increasingly finding its way into 鈥渇ake prescription pills鈥� that are 鈥渆asily accessible and often sold on social media and e-commerce platforms.鈥�

Republican and Democratic lawmakers have when it comes to tackling the growing fentanyl crisis in the state.

State Sen. , D-Dallas, has teamed up with state Sen. , R-Edgewood, to push through to decriminalize the use of testing strips and other methods used to detect fentanyl.

Late last year, Republican Gov. came out in favor of legalizing fentanyl test strips which help users identify whether the drugs they are planning on taking contain the deadly synthetic opioid. Abbott previously opposed such a policy but said the increase in opioid overdose deaths had brought a 鈥渂etter understanding鈥� that more needs to be done by the state to tackle the problem.

The Texas governor also said he wanted to make across the state.

Rep. , R-Rio Grande City, has also proposed a bill that would create a task force to study methods to incentivize manufacturers of opioid antagonists to increase production. The task force must submit a report to the Legislature no later than Dec. 1, 2024.

The commissioner of the Texas Department of State Health Services would be required to issue a statewide standing order prescribing opioid antagonists to those in need and would have all liability removed to accomplish this under , proposed by Sen. , R-Lubbock. A matching bill, , was authored by Rep. , R-Cypress, and Democratic Reps. of Austin and of Dallas.

Men茅ndez said the idea for his bill came after hearing the fears from local parents and students about how easily fentanyl can accidentally be consumed.

鈥淭here is a powerful drug out there in our society and we need to be prepared,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 scary how pervasive this thing could become very quickly. And how damaging, unless we get on top of this, it can be specifically for those living in areas with limited access to health care.鈥�

Texans seeking help for substance use can call the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration鈥檚 at 800-662-4357. They can also access services in their region through the .

Disclosure: Rice University and Rice University鈥檚 Baker Institute for Public Policy have been financial supporters of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune’s journalism. Find a complete .

This article originally appeared in , a member-supported, nonpartisan newsroom informing and engaging Texans on state politics and policy. Learn more at texastribune.org.