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The fentanyl drug crisis has affected many students in hundreds of school districts nationwide.
As a result, Miami-Dade County Public Schools (M-DCPS) launched a district-wide Fentanyl Awareness Education Campaign in November, including educational assemblies at 62 high schools to make students aware of the risks of taking this dangerous drug. So far the district has been fortunate not to have any fentanyl related incidents.
“What we have seen is that there has been an increase, nationally and statewide, in the amount of young people dying from fentanyl,” said Brenda L. Wilder, executive director of Comprehensive Student Health Services at M-DCPS. “So, we know how important it is to educate our students never to use counterfeit pills, only to take medication prescribed by a physician.”
The campaign also inspired students who have been spreading the word to keep their classmates safe. One of those students is Stella McLaney who co-founded the peer-to-peer, non-profit organization SAFE (Students Advocating Fentanyl Education) when she was a junior at Miami Beach High School.
“This opened my eyes to the alarming lack of knowledge. So many students were unaware of the problem with fentanyl in fake pills,” said McLaney, who graduated this year.
She created the website fentanylsafe.org and manages the Instagram account @fentanylsafe. SAFE partnered with M-DCPS, Fentanyl Fathers, and South Florida Opioid Alliance to help present the assemblies at M-DCPS high schools. As part of that partnership, a video with facts about the drug and its potency, as well as testimonials from parents of young people who died of fentanyl overdoses. At the end of the video, members of her group urge students to join the organization as ambassadors and to establish a SAFE club at their school.
“Losing a child is the worst pain anyone can ever experience. We decided as a way of therapy to get involved in the solution,” said Greg Swan, founder and CEO of Fentanyl Fathers, whose son died of a fentanyl overdose. “Thank you so much, M-DCPS. You’re way ahead because you don’t want this happening in your schools. Let’s make sure our scorecard is still a perfect zero at the end of this.”
M-DCPS together with SAFE, Fentanyl Fathers, and the South Florida Opioid Alliance teach students just how perilous this drug is. A very small amount can kill and many illegally sold prescription drugs can be laced with fentanyl.
According to the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), Fentanyl is the single deadliest and the most dangerous illegal drug our nation has ever encountered. The drug is approximately 50 times more potent than heroin and 100 times more potent than morphine.
Its affordability, easy accessibility, and addictive nature make it particularly hazardous to high school students, who may overdose because they are unaware that other drugs are laced with fentanyl. According to Swan, Florida is second only to California in fentanyl deaths, with 7,800 young people dying every year.
McLaney hopes to plan and organize free Narcan distribution events to equip teens with the lifesaving, overdose medication used to prevent overdose deaths. Every M-DCPS school has Narcan available.
In her last year at Miami Beach Senior High, McLaney recruited other students into SAFE to continue raising awareness about fentanyl.
“There is a lack of information and that is when I realized that I could step in,” McLaney said. “It is amazing that M-DCPS is taking this proactive step that opens the door to talk about it and get the knowledge out to the students.”
Being at the forefront of keeping our students safe, educating them about the dangers of illicit drugs, and encouraging them to take the lead in spreading the word among their peers is yet another reason why M-DCPS is your best choice.
Vanessa Robles is a Trainer, Comprehensive Student Health Services, Miami-Dade County Public Schools.
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