Opioid prevention education coming to Sonoma County schools this fall

Melanie’s Law, passed in 2023, mandates fentanyl education and prevention in schools. |

Sonoma County teachers, staff and students this fall will learn more about the dangers of opioids and how to assist in overdose prevention following a state mandate passed last year.

The Sonoma County Office of Education will develop updated guidelines about fentanyl awareness, overdose and prevention for middle and high schools to be added to existing safety for local school districts, said Eric Wittmershaus, Sonoma County Office of Education spokesperson.

The Sonoma County Department of Health Services also is working to expand fentanyl prevention and opioid education in schools through the IMPACT program managed by their partner, Panaptic, according to county spokesperson Sheri Cardo.

Panaptic, a Sonoma-based organization, produces evidence-based substance abuse prevention curriculum through engaging youth with compassion. Through its Sonoma County Prevention Partnership, the health department has collaborated with Panaptic since 2019 and currently serves seven campuses with plans to expand annually, Cardo said.

The health department will introduce the expanded programming starting this fall.

The department is “aggressively working” on adding more schools where they provide prevention services, she said. The department will also distribute naloxone and offer training, along with a speakers panel, at its Overdose Awareness Event on Aug. 31.

The department remains “deeply concerned about the prevalence of substance abuse among adolescents,” said Shelley Alves, health program manager for substance use disorders.

“While it is a misconception that youth are deliberately experimenting with fentanyl, the reality is far more alarming. Many young individuals are seeking substances to alleviate mental health symptoms, often turning to central nervous system depressants or prescription painkillers. Tragically, they frequently encounter counterfeit pills laced with fentanyl, unknowingly placing themselves at grave risk.”

The program’s prevention strategy first addresses adolescents’ mental health to ensure they have access to the services necessary. It then provides immediate, comprehensive education on the dangers of drug use and ensures adolescents have access to the protective factors that can prevent overdoses, Alves said.

“Until we can affirmatively address these two critical areas with complete certainty, our concern and efforts will persist,” she said.

Fentanyl, a synthetic opioid primarily used to manage severe postoperative pain, is highly addictive and often illicitly mixed with other drugs to enhance their effects. It is inexpensive to produce.

A lethal dose of fentanyl, undetectable by sight, smell or taste, is about 2 milligrams for most people — an amount that looks like a few grains of sea salt, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration.

Low-cost fentanyl test strips can prevent unintentional overdose when other drugs, like Xanax or Percocet, are laced with the opioid.

Naloxone is the opioid-overdose antidote often carried by first responders and caregivers for people with heroin addiction. It can reverse an overdose by binding to opioid receptors in the brain and displacing the opioids, effectively blocking their effects. This can restore normal breathing in a person whose breathing has slowed or stopped as a result of an overdose.

The nasal spray is easy to use and commonly available, often for free in public libraries or on college campuses.

In October 2023, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Melanie’s Law to protect middle and high school students by requiring lifesaving prevention and response resources for fentanyl overdoses. The law mandates school safety plans requiring prevention, response, training, education and awareness.

SCOE will update existing safety plan templates to reflect the new requirements through the School Culture and Partnerships program initiated by Superintendent Amie Carter. This program aims to provide students with a safe educational environment so that they can access support they need at school. It encompasses learning, health, school culture, as well as safety measures.

Currently, the safety plan offers guidelines on handgun safety, excess heat and suicide awareness.

In 2022, the county education office facilitated conversations about fentanyl awareness within local school districts. It developed a survey to raise awareness and have conversations about the presence of fentanyl use and abuse in Sonoma County, Wittmershaus said. At the time, there was a big push to get naloxone into public sites, he said, and people were receptive to the idea of fentanyl education and prevention.

SCOE also received $68,582 from the state to facilitate opioid harm reduction and to purchase Narcan, a brand name for the device that delivers naloxone, Wittmershaus said. This summer SCOE will work to get two units into each middle, high and adult school that doesn’t have any.

While the county education office offers guidelines, individual school districts decide how specifically to implement them and to what degree the prevention education will involve students.

Nationwide, overdose deaths appear to be on the decline, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. According to data released in May, fatal drug overdoses declined by 3%, or nearly 3,500 deaths, between 2022 and 2023.

But drug use and overdose rates remain high. In California, fentanyl-related overdose deaths continue to rise, according to the California Department of Public Health. Of the 7,385 overdose deaths in California, nearly 88% were related to fentanyl overdose.

And in California, fentanyl causes 1 in 5 youth deaths, according to the California Overdose Surveillance Dashboard.

Following a peak between 2021 and 2022, opioid-related overdose deaths fell slightly in Sonoma County, according to the California Department of Public Health. The majority of those were among 30- to 34-year-olds, followed by 25- to 55-year-olds.

But, according to local emergency room records, a significant number of preadolescents and young adults under 25 use and overdose on drugs.In Sonoma County between 2019 and 2023, there were three fentanyl overdose deaths among children under 15 and 28 deaths among people between the ages of 15 to 24, according to health department officials.

In the same period, there were four deaths in which fentanyl was present among children under 15 and 34 deaths among youths between the ages of 15 to 24.

Starting in 2021, fentanyl received a unique code for emergency department visits. This means that fentanyl-related emergency room visits before 2021 were classified under a broader category, “other synthetic narcotics,” leading to potential data gaps for overdoses or deaths specifically related to fentanyl use. In Sonoma County, emergency department records report 14 visits for non-fatal fentanyl overdose among people aged 20 to 24, according to the health department.

Notably, the number of local emergency room visits for youth and adults under 25 with fentanyl present rose from 8 in 2021 to 14 in 2022, according to health department records.

Challenges face researchers trying to pinpoint how many youth are affected by fentanyl, however. While schools generally are willing to share what they’re doing in terms of education and prevention, privacy laws prevent schools and others from sharing information with each other.

“When you are talking about education, law enforcement, first responders, hospitals, coroners, etc., talking with each other, sharing data, identifying and sharing the cause of death, etc., especially when you are talking about minors (youth), data is very challenging to come by,” said Scott Gerbert, director of outreach for Stanford’s REACH lab in an email to The Press Democrat.

You can reach Breaking News Intern Amy Moore at 707-526-8545 or amy.moore@pressdemocrat.com.