Opinion: Why naloxone belongs in the classroom

Annual drug overdose deaths are at a record high in the United States, as deaths from fentanyl and other opioids climb to previously unseen levels. According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Health Statistics, <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2022/03/16/health/overdose-deaths-record-high-fentanyl/index.html" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">an estimated 105,752 people died of drug overdoses in the 12-month period ending October 2021</a>. The Drug Enforcement Administration has issued a <a href="https://www.dea.gov/press-releases/2021/09/27/dea-issues-public-safety-alert" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">Public Safety Alert</a> warning Americans of the “alarming increase in the lethality and availability of fake prescription pills containing fentanyl and methamphetamine.” <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/losangeles/news/ucla-study-teen-overdose-deaths-surged-pandemic-fentanyl-pills/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=news_tab#l1xwok1sl4pysv172d" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">A recent study from UCLA found that the rate of overdose deaths among U.S. teenagers nearly doubled in 2020</a>, then increased again in the first half of 2021, when compared with the decade before the pandemic. The increase in deaths was almost completely due to counterfeit pills tainted with fentanyl. <a href="https://medium.com/@johnmwmd/opinion-why-naloxone-belongs-in-the-classroom-b3510243f4c2">Read More</a>