Narcan kits installed in high schools to fight teen overdoses

Name: Narcan kits installed in high schools to fight teen overdoses
Uploaded: 2022-12-29T12:47:54.000Z
Duration: 2 min 50 s
Description: Losing a child to a drug overdose has become all to common in the U.S., and these days - more often than not - the culprit is fentanyl. A New Jersey school district is installing 175 overdose kits across high schools county-wide in an effort to save students' lives.

Losing a child to a drug overdose has become all to common in the U.S., and these days - more often than not - the culprit is fentanyl. A New Jersey school district is installing 175 overdose kits across high schools county-wide in an effort to save students' lives.

Posted 12/29/2022, 12:47:54 PM Updated 12/29/2022, 12:49:05 PM

When Tanya Niederman lost her son J

He was just 19 years old

He ingested cocaine and he had enough fentaNYL in his

system to kill 30 grown adults

A tragic story that's becoming increasingly common overdoses among teens

ages 14 to 18 now reaching a record high surging

100 33% in just two years

The vast majority of them caused by fentaNYL a drug

that's often found in fake pills made to resemble prescription

drugs like oxyCODONE Xanax or even Adderall

That's why here at highland Regional High School in Camden

County New Jersey break the glass remove the Narcan

They're bringing a new solution to the students

Is it almost like a fire extinguisher You just break

glass if necessary

That's exactly what it is

The school district is installing 175 overdose kits just like

this one across high schools

Countywide each one stocked with naloxone a drug that can

actually reverse opioid overdoses nationwide

At least 20 states have laws allowing schools to stock

naloxone training staff and even some students on how to

use it

We're going all hands on deck because it's such a

prominent drug throughout our community data is showing that the

number of overdoses among teens is going up

But the drug use among teens is actually going down

how do you square that we believe That's because of

the strength of fentaNYL

Just a few grams of fentaNYL can kill someone and

we think the fact that the fentaNYL is now being

mixed in with the drugs that are being used is

attributing to the higher rate of the deaths those fatal

mixes

The Drug Enforcement Administration says often finding their way into

students hands through social media

People set up accounts specifically towards catering to people who

are willing to buy drugs online

Yes online

A chain of events parents like Tanya Niederman hope to

prevent any way possible

What about parents who feel like putting these naloxone kids

in schools is just going too far that it sends

the wrong message about drugs

I think it's with anything

I mean you know kids who are allergic to peanuts

they have epipens in school like why not have it

available for people that may need to have it because

I truly think that you don't know what's going on

in the bathroom you don't know what happened in the

car in the parking lot

If this is a way to keep kids from dying

then so be it a new tool in the fight

against overdoses

Reaching a younger generation morgan Radford NBC news new york