Opioid overdose reversal drug Narcan now available to Arizona schools

PHOENIX — The Arizona Department of Education is distributing opioid overdose reversal drug Narcan to schools across the state in an effort to address the crisis.

The distribution is part of the School Training Overdose Preparedness and Intelligence Taskforce, also known as STOP IT.

The Arizona National Guard helped distribute the first 4,000 of 16,000 Narcan kits this week to schools who requested them. The Narcan kits are provided by the Arizona Department of Health Services at no cost to the schools.

Opioid overdose reversal drug could save lives

Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne said while there have been zero reported overdose deaths on campus at any state schools, he believes the decision will save lives.

STOP IT co-chairwoman Holly Geyer, an addiction medicine specialist at Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale, said Arizona has about 4,000 overdoses a year with a substantial portion being children.

“Between 2021 and 2022, we lost 80 kids in our state due to overdoses,” Geyer said.

Geyer explained that distribution of the Narcan kits is the STOP IT campaign’s first installment to educate young people about the opioid crisis in Arizona.

“Naloxone is a lifesaving medication. It rapidly, but temporarily reverses an overdose. It has no addiction potential,” Geyer said. “It has the opportunity to make sure that a person has another chance at tomorrow.”

She said they will also release policies and procedures in a tool kit, which could be adopted nationally. It will be made available to schools in January.

The final installation involves a standardized educational school platform training. It will teach kids about the basics of opioids, the status of the opioid epidemic, how to offer Narcan and what to do in the event of an overdose.

Horne said despite existing laws allowing its use, Naloxone remains inconsistently managed across schools.

“If somebody has an overdose and is in school, Narcan will save their life. So, we want to be sure this is in every school,” Horne said. “The one thing we don’t want ever to happen is for a student to die in school.”

Schools can go online to request a delivery of the opioid overdose reversal drug.