ELK GROVE — Some parents at Elk Grove were concerned that a high school student took home Narkan, an overdose remedy, after Monday’s school assembly, but organizers said , said this was the first step in educating teenagers about the dangers of drugs. counterfeit pills.
Pleasant Grove High School was the first of its kind to be held through partnerships with the Sacramento County Health Service, the Sacramento County District Attorney’s Office, and the nonprofit Alive Alive. This two-year partnership sponsors events such as educational gatherings for 2,800 students, providing education and resources to parents, students, and the larger community.
The partnership plans to bring the rally to schools in other areas, and the next event will focus on parent-child conversations about counterfeit drugs, also known as ‘fentapyr’ because they are laced with fentanyl. This program aims to raise awareness and education about fentanyl and its effects. It was open to all students in the school for maximum reach.
Speakers at the event included District Attorney Anne-Marie Schubert, Sacramento County Superintendents Christel Sutchland and Jonathan Sharon, Sacramento County Public Health Division Manager Lori Miller, Adventist Health, Rideout Health Senior Nurse Anesthesiologist Talitha Kanaan, Doctor of Emergency Medicine at the University of California, Davis.Amy Moulin and Laura Didier, mother of Zach Didier.
Didier, a Rocklin teenager, died after taking a fentanyl-laden pill allegedly purchased from Virgil Xavier Bordner, 22, a Sacramento man who had no objection to selling pills to teens. did.
Students were given the opportunity to ask questions and were trained in the use of Narkan. This included a pamphlet explaining how to use Narkan and her QR code with more information.
When Michelle Chun, a parent of a third-grade student at Pleasant Grove High School, found an open box of Narkan in her son’s rucksack after assembly, she panicked because she wasn’t sure if he had ingested it. .
“I hope every parent talks to their kids about the possibility of receiving this at school,” Chung said.
She told CBS13 that her concerns stemmed not from the educational component of Congress, but from the unknown of how Narkan could interact with her son’s medical history.
“What I’ve found is that there are no specific studies in people not taking opioids,” Chunn said. and hoped the gathering would start a conversation about drugs with other families.
“If schools can act quickly and reverse their overdose, teens will have the opportunity to learn from their mistakes. It can be a deadly mistake that you are unaware of,” said Sarah Mars, Associate Fellow at the University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine.
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Maas said he urged his children’s schools to educate their students about fentanyl and Narcan because of the prevalence of counterfeit pills.
“If they [teens] Dealers are approaching people with these sales on social media if they have a smartphone that could be in a dangerous area of a dangerous city,” Maas said.
Narcan is not harmful, according to Sacramento County Public Health Manager Lori Miller. Miller said there is no harm in using it unless someone is in an overdose situation. she said there is.
“Narcan will reverse overdoses and save their lives, so we want young people to be educated because they have the ability to save someone’s life,” Miller said. rice field.
When CBS13 asked about parents’ concerns about distributing Narkan to students, Miller said it was part of a broader campaign to stigmatize the drug.
“We want to normalize Narkan in the community so that people understand it’s okay to have Narkan,” Miller said.
Resources related to fentanyl education and the dangers of counterfeit pills can be found online at the Sacramento County DA sponsored website, 1PillCanKillSac, and the National Institute on Drug Abuse. Mental health is also an important part of her teen and young adult education when it comes to drug use on the street, and resources and support can also be found online.
Madison Keevey
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