TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) — "I think it's an excellent move. In fact, I think we should do that probably starting in middle school," said Dr. Paul Christo, associate professor at Johns Hopkins.
Florida State University is now offering free Narcan and training sessions to its campus making FSU the second university in Florida to be considered a Narcan distribution site.
Dr. Christo said the number of deaths related to the illegal use of fentanyl has grown drastically in the U.S. since 2013.
"Unfortunately we're seeing a lot of death related to adolescents between the ages 13 and 25," said Christo.
Just Wednesday Biden's administration announced opioid fentanyl combined with xylazine is an emerging threat facing the United States. That's according to CNN.
Now, FSU Director for Center of Health Advocacy and Wellness Rose Rezaei is working to make sure no FSU student becomes part of that statistic.
"Accidental overdoses can occur to anyone and so for us anything we can do to help save a life to empower the people who are potentially there witnessing that overdose is really, really important," said Rezaei.
FSU is not alone in this fight. Florida A&M University has plans to add Narcan stands to their campus as well. the university confirming they will make Narcan accessible in selected campus buildings like residence hall.
FSU requires that all students attend training to learn how to use Narcan before receiving the spray. The free course is completely voluntary and about 20 minutes long. So far, the campus has already trained 80 students.
"I really love that it was a partnership between our institution, our student body, and community providers to really come together and provide that education to make it accessible, attainable," said Rezaei.
