Alabama mandates fentanyl education for grades six through 12

Alabama middle and high schoolers will start receiving mandatory education on the dangers of fentanyl this school year, as other states look at similar measures to teach children about overdose and prevention.

Students in sixth through 12th grade in Alabama will be instructed on "fentanyl prevention and drug poisoning awareness" after Gov. Kay Ivey (R-AL) signed HB 280 into law in May.

According to the law, students will learn about preventing fentanyl addiction and abuse, resources available to students at school and in the local community, and health education on addiction and substance abuse.

The instruction comes as fentanyl was involved in 84% of teenage overdose deaths in 2021, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the number of overdose deaths among children and teenagers has increased.

Since 2019, Alabama high schools have had access to kits with naloxone (brand name Narcan), the opioid overdose reversal drug. While it is not mandatory for schools to keep the drug on campus, 90% of high schools reported stocking naloxone in 2022, which decreased to 75% in 2023. In 2022, the overdose treatment was administered 15 times statewide.

Alabama is not alone in this, as every school in New York City now has naloxone, and all school nurses are trained on how to administer it. City officials are also looking to expand training to more school staff and administrators.

As of last year, 33 states had passed laws allowing schools to keep stockpiles of naloxone, and nine states mandate that at least some schools carry the drug.

Another new Alabama law, which goes into effect in the 2025-26 school year, requires public and nonpublic schools to create an emergency response plan for cardiac arrest on school grounds. The schools would need to have an emergency response team and keep updated training on how to use an automated external defibrillator, or AED.

Illinois is also looking at giving educators the resources to teach about overdose, as the state Board of Education recently published a blueprint after the state passed a law last year. Illinois is one of the states that also mandates stocking naloxone.

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The new curriculum options were developed by different universities, interest groups, and federal agencies and cover knowledge about prescription drugs, how drugs interact with the body, a somewhat controversial practice of "harm reduction," and the interplay between medication and mental health.

According to the CDC, in 2022, over 3,800 people died from overdose in Illinois, making it a leading cause of death in the state.