A Colorado bill that would make drugs counteracting opioid overdoses easier to access in schools is gaining strong support in the state’s legislature. SB25-164 would allow anyone to administer opioid antagonists, such as Naloxone—sold under the brand name Narcan—to someone experiencing an opioid overdose at a Colorado public school.
SB25-164 passed the House Health and Human Services Committee by a vote of 12–1 this month. While training is still encouraged to administer Narcan, the bill would remove cumbersome training requirements to administer the opioid antagonist, so anyone can help reverse an opioid overdose. To increase access to Naloxone during an emergency, this bill would allow it to be placed inside AED defibrillator cabinets located in schools and on school buses.
A 2024 study revealed that Colorado ranked second in the nation for fatal youth overdoses. “Drug overdoses and poisonings are now the third-leading cause of pediatric deaths in this country, after firearm-related injuries and motor vehicle crashes,” wrote Joseph Friedman and Scott Hadland in the study. “After more than a decade of holding relatively steady, overdose deaths among adolescents 14 to 18 years of age more than doubled between August 2019 and March 2020. Since then, this crisis has further intensified, with 5.2 deaths per 100,000 adolescents in 2022.”
“The bill also streamlines the Naloxone Bulk Fund to make it more accessible and efficient for schools by allowing staff of the statewide program to focus on overdose prevention outreach, education, and training in rural and underserved areas,” reported Monte Whaley on Colorado Community Media.
“Our students are losing friends and peers to preventable overdoses—we need to do more to save lives,” said Representative Jamie Jackson (D-Aurora), according to a news release. “During an overdose, time is of the essence, and this bill makes Naloxone more accessible in schools. Additionally, our bill would remove the unnecessary training requirements to administer opioid antagonists, so anyone can act quickly to save a life.”
An important driver of increasing risks is the widespread availability of counterfeit pills containing the potent opioid fentanyl. Illicit fentanyl is now involved in at least 75 percent of adolescent overdose deaths.
“When compared to other states, Colorado ranks near the top for fatal youth overdoses,” said Representative Jenny Willford (D-Northglenn), in the news release. “Fatal overdoses are preventable, and we should be doing everything we can to save a life.”
Colorado lawmakers have worked to combat the youth overdose crisis in their state, according to the news release. HB25-1293, also sponsored by Rep. Jackson, would require public high schools to adopt education standards focused on drug overdose identification, risks, prevention, and response. SB25-164 builds upon previous legislation allowing school districts to maintain a supply of Naloxone to be used on buses and at school-sponsored events.
Opioid overdoses among young people signify adult overdose risks.
Colorado’s youth opioid overdose problem underscores the state’s struggle with substance use disorders generally. Colorado regularly ranks among the states with high rates of addictive disorders among adults. While the proposed bill represents progress toward addressing overdoses and improving the safety of Colorado adolescents, several factors make the risk of overdose higher for people using opioids and other substances. The nation’s illicit drug supply contains growing levels of non-opioid substances that make the effects of fentanyl and opioids last longer or seem more potent. Nitizines and xylazine, tranquilizers used in veterinary medicine, are regularly found nationwide adulterating various illicit drugs. Drug dealers are adding these substances to offset weaker fentanyl or to increase the staying power of the drug’s sedative effects. Unfortunately, these substances are not designed for human consumption and lead to debilitating side effects, including abscesses and stupor. Because they are not opioids, Naloxone and other opioid overdose reversal medicines are not effective against their effects.
“Individuals will be found unconscious from a suspected opioid overdose, but giving them Naloxone does not revive them because their opioids were unknowingly laced with xylazine or another tranquilizer. Mixing tranquilizers with opioids is incredibly dangerous because both of these drugs suppress the respiratory system and increase the chances of a fatal overdose,” says NRT Medical Director Rachael Kjeldon, DNP, FNP-C.
NRT Behavioral Health and its treatment programs, including Foundry Front Range, comment on steps to increase overdose reversal medication access and believe these programs help save lives. They also assert that cultural changes rooted in education at the local level can also help to stem the overdose problem among adolescents and adults.
“Colorado, like many states, faces challenges that can lead to a cultural acceptance of self-medication through substance use. In rural parts of the state, for example, the difficulty of making a living as a farmer or rancher, coupled with chronic pain from the nature of this work, can make it seem more acceptable to use alcohol or other substances to get through the day. Families can turn a blind eye to substance use, even among young people, because they know how hard or isolating life in rural America can be. When people feel more comfortable with the idea of using substances as a normal part of everyday life, they can easily become dependent. A lack of local treatment providers and support services in these remote settings makes the problem harder still,” says NRT Co-Founder and CEO Tom Walker.
NRT Behavioral Health works to educate communities through recovery events, connecting local therapists and other treatment provider organizations, and providing treatment to people in these communities. Expanding high-quality treatment to rural Colorado communities is vital to making progress in the state’s ongoing battle against substance use disorder and premature deaths.
