Overdose reversal drug Narcan may be available in Georgia schools soon

BUFORD, Ga. - A Georgia senator wants to equip teachers and school staffers with overdose reversal drugs and empower them to use them, if needed.

Sen. Clint Dixon, who represents the Buford area, says several parents reached out to him after a series of Berkmar High School overdoses. His solution is a bill that would expand who can have and administer Narcan, also known as naloxone, the overdose reversal drug. 

That reversal medicine can reverse the effects of opioids like heroin, fentanyl, and oxycodone. While teen overdoses are rising across the country, it was a series of on campus​ student overdoses at Berkmar High that made Gwinnett County schools consider Narcan training. DeKalb schools already started doing so and this proposed bill has become a bipartisan topic this legislative session.

According to the CDC, overdoses among 14- to 18-year-olds increased 94-percent from 2019 to 2020, and another 20% by 2021.

Dixon says the bill is important, not just for students who voluntarily use drugs or struggle with addiction.

"There are accidental overdoses. They might touch a desk, or bump into someone with no intent at all of getting contaminated," he said.

Likewise, he says naloxone is an ideal first step, considering other medical emergencies may seem similar to an overdose.

"Say it's another medical emergency, it’s not an injection. If it is, there are no side effects of it. There are no alternative side effects if not needing Narcan," he said Wednesday outside the chambers.

Gwinnett Schools said they started considering training teachers an staff on Narcan use sometime late last year.

On Wednesday afternoon, leaders sent details about a "Take Back Berkmar" community event. Between 10 a.m. and noon Friday, school officials, health department representatives and local law enforcement will address the youth fentanyl crisis.