Minnesota Congressman Dean Philips is offering up legislation to ensure schools have an adequate amount of naloxone to treat overdoses.
The proposal comes as the CDC reports a sharp increase in overdoses among adolescents.
According to their numbers, overdose deaths among persons aged 10–19 years (adolescents) increased 109% from July–December 2019 to July–December 2021. Deaths involving illicitly manufactured fentanyls increased 182%.
Approximately 90% of deaths involved opioids and 84% involved IMFs.
"This does not spend one dollar more," Phillips told WCCO Radio's Vineeta Sawkar during the Morning News on Thursday. "It simply authorizes schools to apply for existing funding to ensure they have NARCAN in stock."
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Phillips said the legislation would work to address the patchwork when it comes to which schools have NARCAN and which ones do not. Ultimately the NARCAN would be available through nursing stations with trained professionals who could administer it.
"A lot of schools frankly can barely afford pencils and pens for their students, let alone having doses of this NARCAN on-hand," he said. "This is just a way to afford them the ability to apply for resources that already exists."
Overdoses caused an estimated 108,000 deaths in 2021 across the United States, according to the CDC. During July 2019–December 2021, a total of 1,808 adolescent overdose deaths occurred.
"Even right here in the Twin Cities, the Bloomington School District has saved two lives by using NARCAN on students who have overdosed. It's saving lives and that's we try to do as lawmakers."