Illinois public schools wishing to teach their students about the dangers of overdoses and substance use disorder now have a blueprint to do so from the state.

The Illinois State Board of Education published the resource guides in accordance with a law passed in 2023. While a school鈥檚 use of any of the state鈥檚  is voluntary, some public health advocates consider the creation of the guides a step in the right direction. Administrators and educators can download age-appropriate presentations, lesson plans or fact sheets.

Various courses developed by  nonprofits and federal agencies provide options for curricula about what prescription drugs are, the science of drug interactions, harm reduction, and how to manage medication alongside mental health struggles. Complexity increases with age; high school resources include lessons on different classes of drugs.

Some links connect to materials or videos from the National Institute on Drug Abuse and a 鈥渧irtual field trip鈥� produced by the .

One resource referenced multiple times in the guides, , was developed in part by Cardinal Health, a pharmaceutical distributor who paid out part of a  with 45 states, , in 2022.

Overdose remains a leading cause of accidental death in the state and across the country, something not lost on the various public health organizations that supported the legislation to create the guides. The Illinois Harm Reduction and Recovery Coalition, an advocacy network of organizations and individuals dedicated to , released a statement praising ISBE and the Department of Human Services for their work but said there was a 鈥渓ack of opportunities鈥� for more involvement from community members.

During 2022 鈥� the most recent year with comparable data 鈥� more than  people died of an overdose in Illinois, while almost  were killed by firearms, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That same year, more than  people in Illinois died due to a traffic accident, according to the Illinois Department of Transportation.

The law requiring the guides  the House and the Senate unanimously. It鈥檚 known as Louie鈥檚 Law in honor of Louie Miceli, who died of an overdose in 2012 at 24 years old.

Felicia Miceli, Louie鈥檚 mother, said he was first exposed to opioids at age 17 following a high school football injury.

鈥淲e know this guidance will equip communities with vital information, tools, and resources,鈥� Miceli said in a . 鈥淏ut only if they know about it and have an implementation plan.鈥�

The Illinois Harm Reduction and Recovery Coalition and the LTM Heroin Awareness and Support Foundation 鈥� which Miceli started in honor of her son 鈥� released a statement celebrating the 鈥渇irst-of-its-kind鈥� guides but also said the process could have benefitted from including more perspectives while crafting various guides.

鈥淭he organizations are concerned about the lack of opportunities for broader stakeholder involvement in the guidelines鈥� development, including the primary target audiences (and) marginalized groups,鈥� the release reads.

Last year, 30 teenagers in Cook County died due to drug toxicity, according to the .

 is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news service covering state government. It is distributed to hundreds of newspapers, radio and TV stations statewide. It is funded primarily by the Illinois Press Foundation and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation, along with major contributions from the Illinois Broadcasters Foundation and Southern Illinois Editorial Association.

Washington House and Senate lawmakers have unanimously passed a bill requiring all public, charter and certain tribal schools in the state to carry naloxone, an opioid overdose reversal medication also known by the brand name Narcan.

, sponsored by Sen. Patty Kuderer, D-Bellevue, will move to Gov. Jay Inslee鈥檚 desk, where he is expected to sign it into law, Kuderer鈥檚 office said.

鈥淲e all wish we weren鈥檛 here as a nation, but we are,鈥� Kuderer said. 鈥淭his bill is about saving lives.鈥�

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Washington has seen a in opioid overdose deaths among young people, particularly due to fentanyl, a cheap and devastating drug.

According to the state Department of Health, rates of opioid-related fatalities among adolescents ages 14 to 18 surged almost threefold from 2016 to 2022. The agency says the increase can largely be attributed to fentanyl.

Current Washington law requires school districts with over 2,000 students to carry at least one box of naloxone in each of its high schools. But students at Lake Washington High School, who brought the bill to Kuderer, that over half of the state鈥檚 districts have fewer than 2,000 students.

The group of students said in a statement that they believe the legislation 鈥渨ill mark a critical turning point in protecting students from the opioid epidemic.鈥�

SB 5804 is part of to combat youth opioid use and the broader opioid epidemic. The state Department of Health in January also said they would offer every high school in Washington a box of naloxone for free.

鈥淒espite being divided along party lines on many things, we鈥檙e unified in this front,鈥� said Rep. Mari Leavitt, D-University Place, during a bipartisan press conference on the opioid epidemic.

is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Washington State Standard maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Bill Lucia for questions: info@washingtonstatestandard.com. Follow Washington State Standard on and .

KYLE, Texas 鈥� The hallways of Lehman High School looked like any other on a recent fall day. Its 2,100 students talked and laughed as they hurried to their next classes, moving past walls covered with flyers that advertised homecoming events, clubs, and football games. Next to those flyers, though, were posters with a grim message warning students that fentanyl is extremely deadly.

Those posters weren鈥檛 there last school year.

Right before this school year started, the Hays Consolidated Independent School District, which includes Lehman, announced that two students had died after taking fentanyl-laced pills. They were the first recorded student deaths tied to the synthetic opioid in this Central Texas school district, which has high school campuses in Kyle and Buda, a nearby town. Within the first month of school, two more fatalities were confirmed.

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The reaction from school officials, employees, students, and parents has been intense, mixing heartbreak and terror with anger and action. The community, it seems, is ready to fight back. The school system has prioritized its existing anti-drug educational campaign. Students are wrestling with their risky behaviors and peer pressure. And parents are trying to start difficult conversations about drugs with their children.

They are 鈥渢aking the bull by the horns,鈥� said Tim Savoy, the school district鈥檚 chief communications officer.

But there are also questions about whether those efforts will be enough.

The overdose problem facing the district, which is just south of Austin and about an hour northeast of San Antonio, mimics . More than 107,000 people in the U.S. died of drug overdoses in 2021, , a record. Most of those deaths 鈥� 71,238 of them 鈥� involved fentanyl and other synthetic opioids. The Drug Enforcement Administration that fentanyl is increasingly finding its way into 鈥渇ake prescription pills鈥� that are 鈥渆asily accessible and often sold on social media and e-commerce platforms.鈥�

The police chief in Kyle, Jeff Barnett, said that鈥檚 a problem in his area. 鈥淵ou could probably find a fentanyl-laced pill within five minutes on social media and probably arrange a meeting within the hour鈥� with a dealer, Barnett said.

The fentanyl threat has made high schoolers more susceptible to getting ahold of the lethal pills. They might believe they are using party drugs that, though illegal, are not 鈥� on their own 鈥� nearly as deadly as fentanyl.

The kids are 鈥渘ot intentionally buying fentanyl,鈥� , a professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at UT Health San Antonio, said in testimony during a before the Texas House of Representatives. They don鈥檛 know that it鈥檚 in the pills they buy, she added, describing the problem as the 鈥渢hird wave of the overdose crisis.鈥�

Seventeen-year-old Kevin McConville, a Lehman student who died in August, appears to be one of this wave鈥檚 victims. In the district produced, Kevin鈥檚 parents explain with grief heavy in their eyes that after their son鈥檚 death, they learned from his friends that he was struggling to sleep. After taking pills he thought were Percocet and Xanax, he didn鈥檛 wake up, his parents said.

Stories like that have led the school district to issue the following warning on : 鈥淔entanyl is here. We need to talk about fentanyl. And fentanyl is deadly.鈥� It鈥檚 100 times as potent as morphine and 50 times as potent as heroin, according to , and 2 milligrams is .

The district launched a 鈥淔ighting Fentanyl鈥� campaign 鈥� which enlists city police and emergency medical services personnel. There鈥檚 a 鈥溾�� to which students can anonymously send information about classmates who may be taking illicit drugs. Starting in sixth grade, students are required to watch a 13-minute video that underscores how dangerous and deadly fentanyl is and explains how to identify when a classmate may be overdosing.

鈥淲e鈥檙e recruiting students to help us be the eyes and ears if they鈥檙e at a party or at a friend鈥檚 house,鈥� Savoy said.

The school system also hopes to raise students鈥� awareness of the risks they face. Any pill 鈥� no matter what it is 鈥� that didn鈥檛 come from a pharmacy cannot be trusted: 鈥淚t鈥檚 like playing Russian roulette,鈥� Savoy said.

The message may be resonating. Sara Hutson, a Lehman High senior, said sharing over-the-counter pills such as Tylenol and Motrin used to be common, but she no longer considers it safe. Her trust is gone.

But other students aren鈥檛 as cautious. Lisa Peralta shared in a Facebook post in September that her daughter, who is in seventh grade, admitted to eating an 鈥渁nxiety gummy鈥� her friend gave her. 鈥淚鈥檓 scared because my daughter is a follower,鈥� the Kyle resident wrote. 鈥淚 just don鈥檛 trust that she won鈥檛 do it again if she feels pressured.鈥�

No matter how clear the district and parents make their messages, Savoy worries they may never be enough because students are so adventurous. 鈥淚t鈥檚 just the teenage mindset,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hey think, 鈥榃e鈥檙e invincible; it鈥檚 not going to happen to me.鈥� But it is happening to us in our community.鈥�

Still, the feelings of unease and grief are sometimes palpable. Students have been fighting more at school, said Jacob Valdez, a Lehman sophomore who knew two of the students who died. That might be happening, he added, because 鈥渆veryone is just angsty.鈥�

The tension is not limited to middle and high school students. It鈥檚 also become very real for parents of elementary school kids, since the DEA warned the public in August about fentanyl-laced pills that . The Hays school district is also hanging warning posters geared toward younger students.

Jillien Brown of Kyle said she is worried about her daughters, 5-year-old Vivian and 7-year-old Scarlett. 鈥淲e told them that there鈥檚 some scary things going on, that people are getting very sick and they鈥檙e dying from taking what they think is candy or medicine,鈥� Brown said. 鈥淲e use the word 鈥榩oison,鈥� so like when Snow White bit the apple.鈥�

But the conversation must be ongoing, Brown said, because the day after she talked to her daughters, 鈥渟ome little kid on the bus gave them a candy and they ate it.鈥�

Similarly, Kyle resident April Munson, a former elementary school teacher, considers it all 鈥済ut-wrenching.鈥� She showed her 9-year-old son, Ethan, pictures of the multicolored 鈥渞ainbow fentanyl鈥� pills. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a hard conversation to have, but hard conversations are often the most important ones,鈥� she said. 鈥淎nd, really, you can鈥檛 afford to have elephants in the room.鈥�

And even as parents and the school officials attempt to prevent fentanyl from striking again, another reality check comes.

Last year, the school district started stocking in every school a supply of the overdose reversal drug naloxone, also known as Narcan. So far this semester, despite all the community has gone through, it has been used to save four more students, Savoy said. In one case, Savoy said, first responders had to use three doses to revive a student 鈥� the fentanyl 鈥渨as that strong,鈥� he said.

(Kaiser Health News) is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues. Together with Policy Analysis and Polling, KHN is one of the three major operating programs at (Kaiser Family Foundation). KFF is an endowed nonprofit organization providing information on health issues to the nation.

In a Friday memo, the Florida Department of Education notified school superintendents to inform school boards of 鈥渘ew responsibilities and considerations related to school health鈥� following new laws from 2022 legislative session 鈥� one dealing with the care of students with epilepsy and seizure disorders and another dealing with opioid overdoses.

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deals with a variety of opioid issues, including authorization for publics schools to purchase and store an opioid antagonist called naloxone on campuses.

鈥淐hildren are dying in schools because of overdoses. It鈥檚 sad but it鈥檚 true,鈥� bill sponsor Sen. Jim Boyd said on the Senate floor in early February as the chamber discussed the legislation. He is a Republican who represents Manatee and part of Hillsborough counties.

Staff analysis of the legislation says that opioid antagonists 鈥渂lock one or more of the opioid receptors in the central or peripheral nervous system鈥� and can reverse the effects of opioids in the system, potentially saving the life of someone experiencing an overdose.

Several drugs classify as opioids, including fentanyl, methadone, heroin, oxycodone, morphine, and hydrocodone.

According to a report from the Medical Examiners Commission through the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, 19 children younger than 18 died after ingesting fentanyl during 2020.

That same report shows three deaths of children under 18 from oxycodone and one death from methadone, as well as additional deaths of kids under 18 with opioids detected in their systems.

The most recent report was published in November 2021 and amended in April 2022.

The new law also exempts school district employees from civil liability if they administer an opioid antagonist to a student under Florida鈥檚 Good Samaritan Act. The law will go into effect on July 1, 2022.

Seizure disorders

The Department of Education also highlighted legislative changes for handling students with seizure disorders.

establishes what are called 鈥渋ndividualized seizure action plans鈥� outlining recommended care for these students. These plans are to be developed by a medical professional in consultation with a student鈥檚 parents.

The legislation was co-sponsored by Rep. Nicholas Duran and Rep. Mike Gottlieb, both South Florida Democrats.

The plans should describe the symptoms associated with the student鈥檚 seizure disorder and outline when to administer anti-seizure medications if applicable, among other requirements.

This new law will also be effective July 1, 2022.

is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Florida Phoenix maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Diane Rado for questions: info@floridaphoenix.com. Follow Florida Phoenix on and .