UNC student group offers free naloxone and fentanyl testing strips

A group of students at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill are working together to prevent overdoses and fentanyl poisoning on campus.

The Carolina Harm Reduction Union was formed by four students: Riley Sullivan, Caroline Clodfelter, Callan Baruch, and Kathleen Ready. Every Friday, they hand out free naloxone and fentanyl testing strips for about two hours in the center of campus.

So far this semester, Sullivan said they have handed out about 500 fentanyl test strips and 900 naloxone kits. Having these tools on-hand are among the recommended strategies to prevent counterfeit pill overdoses.

Naloxone is a medication that can reverse an opioid overdose.

Here’s how the fentanyl testing strips work: In a clean tube, you mix a small sample of drugs and water. Then, you dip the test strips into the tube, set it down and wait. In 2-to-5 minutes, the strip will show lines, which tell you if fentanyl is present.

“We have a naloxone program that the school runs, but it requires that the students walk up to the pharmacy,” Sullivan told WRAL. “They don’t always have enough to go around. Sometimes, people get turned away. We decided to look into what we could do to address this. Setting up a table on campus works really well for us. Instead of making people walk up to us, we put it right in front of them.”

The organization came from a previous program they were involved in called TEACH.

“We teach high schoolers about substance abuse and mental health,” Sullivan explained.

He said the point was to go a step further than the ‘Just Say No’ campaign.

“Through TEACH, we did a couple tabling events on campus, where we gave our naloxone and testing strips,” Sullivan said.

It was just this semester, he said, that the Carolina Harm Reduction Union could start tabling on campus. The new organization came after they heard of an overdose last March. They later learned it was UNC student Grace Burton, who died after overdosing on fentanyl-laced cocaine.

In the state, nearly 77,000 counterfeit pills were seized in 2021, 80% of which contained some amount of fentanyl. That’s according to the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services.

For Sullivan, he said it was important to them to both educate and provide resources for their classmates.

“I know people who use drugs; I love people who use drugs. I want to keep them safe. I think part of doing that is addressing, educating people about the potential harms and ways to they can reduce potential harms from drugs,” he said.

In fact, he believes that offering tools like naloxone and fentanyl testing strips will actually discourage drug use.

“The problem we’re dealing with is that there is fentanyl in the supply. That’s what we need to address. If we can make somebody aware of that, that will prevent them from using the substance.”

The chief medical examiner’s office compared the toxicology results of 75 people who died from overdoses. The study found 38 of them thought they were taking Xanax and 41 thought they were taking some form of Oxycodone. About a third of those deaths had direct witness testimony, showing an opportunity for some sort of intervention, like naloxone. Toxicology reports found zero reportable traces of either drug. 80% of decedents in this study tested positive for fentanyl and 1 in 3 deaths had a direct witness testimony, indicating an opportunity for naloxone administration or other intervention.

The university told WRAL it does not track student deaths or causes of death. However, in July, the director of student wellness reported three student deaths and one alumnus death from fentanyl poisoning within about a 20-month timeframe. That data, according to the university, was based on personal accounts.

“There’s not really a clear picture of who uses drugs on a college campus. There are a lot of people who go to a party or get offered drugs by a friend. This might be their very first time using,” Sullivan.