{"id":129940,"date":"2023-06-29T00:00:20","date_gmt":"2023-06-29T04:00:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thecollegefix.com\/?p=129940"},"modified":"2023-06-28T17:30:57","modified_gmt":"2023-06-28T21:30:57","slug":"under-new-law-texas-to-dole-out-narcan-to-universities-amid-fentanyl-crisis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thecollegefix.com\/under-new-law-texas-to-dole-out-narcan-to-universities-amid-fentanyl-crisis\/","title":{"rendered":"Under new law, Texas to dole out Narcan to universities amid fentanyl crisis"},"content":{"rendered":"

‘Only 56 percent of college-age kids are aware that fentanyl is in fake pills’<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

A new Texas law adds colleges and universities to the list of institutions that the state can provide opioid antagonists to through the state\u2019s Health and Human Services Commission.<\/p>\n

More than 11,000 college students use cocaine on a daily basis, and nearly 5,000 students use heroin equally as much; these are also the two drugs most likely to be \u201cdiluted with fentanyl,\u201d according<\/a> to a Texas legislature analysis of the bill, S.B. 867.<\/p>\n

The analysis added the situation provides \u201cample reason to make certain that institutions of higher education are properly enshrined in this statute for the purpose of ensuring those institutions may receive distributions of opioid antagonists.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cFentanyl has made its way into every type of pill imaginable at this point, so people can never be sure of what they are taking,\u201d Nicole Ross of Song for Charlie told The College Fix<\/em>.<\/p>\n

The group is a national nonprofit<\/a> dedicated to raising awareness about what it calls \u201cfentapills.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cJust 36 percent of high school students and only 56 percent of college-age kids are aware that fentanyl is in fake pills, despite the harrowing stories we continue to see in the media about fentanyl deaths,\u201d Ross said via email.<\/p>\n

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said<\/a> in 2022 that fentanyl-related seizures of the synthetic opioid were up 800 percent compared to the previous year in his state. This month, Abbott signed a quartet of bills to help tackle the crisis, including S.B. 867.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese four laws will forever change Texas through new protections that will help save lives. In 2022, more than 2,000 people died from fentanyl in Texas\u2014or more than five a day. It is the No. 1 killer of Americans ages 18-45. And as I noted at our fentanyl summit a few months ago, just one pill kills,” the Republican governor said<\/a> at a bill signing ceremony June 14.<\/p>\n

The other bills signed by Abbott include House Bill 6<\/a>, which grants authority for fentanyl related deaths to be prosecuted as murder, and Tucker\u2019s Law, which mandates<\/a> that students in grades 6 through 12 are educated about fentanyl abuse.<\/p>\n

The latter is named after Tucker Roe, a 19-year old who died<\/a> of a fentanyl overdose after purchasing what he believed to be Xanax online.<\/p>\n

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House Bill 3908, known as "Tucker's Law," was signed into law in Texas on Wednesday, June 14. House Bill 3908, known as "Tucker's Law," was signed into law in Texas on Wednesday, June 14.https:\/\/t.co\/VG1XgVrMfs<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/FO4utTmApD<\/a><\/p>\n

— CBS Austin (@cbsaustin) June 15, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n