Overdose prevention should be a part of each college’s core curriculum

Last spring break, I went to Mexico with a group of friends. We were surrounded by other college students the whole time. Heavy drinking and partying were a given, along with unidentifiable pills that were readily available without a prescription. It was apparent that the anti-drug rhetoric that was drilled into our generation had departed our minds the second we got off the plane.

Thankfully, my group of friends returned back to campus unscathed from this high-risk environment. I have taken classes on opioid use disorder, addiction, and health care, so I knew how bad things could have gone, yet I felt totally unprepared.

Thanks to my college education, I am confident in my ability to write a research paper and solve an equation for X. However, my course material has failed to teach me an important skill that I could have used that spring break: how to help someone who is overdosing.

“Drug use is a fact of life on college campuses.”

I’m not being alarmist: During that same spring break, four students in Florida overdosed on cocaine laced with fentanyl; when two friends began to perform CPR, they were exposed as well. Two students at Ohio State University died in May from an overdose; right after, school officials warned students about circulating fake Adderall pills that contained fentanyl.

Drug use is a fact of life on college campuses. More than one in five college students report using an illicit drug in the past month. With drug use comes the unfortunate chance of overdose, which is also occurring in increasing prevalence. Last year saw a record high of more than 100,000 drug overdose deaths. The number of deaths has spiked 28.5% compared with the same period a year earlier and nearly doubled over the past five years.

Colleges know there is a problem, but aren’t doing nearly enough. I see poorly enforced bans on all illegal drugs and anti-drug flyers on dorm walls; these are ineffective Band-Aids to this issue and have done little to curb the rampant drug use at parties, bars, and even inside student housing.

» READ MORE: Philadelphians who died of a drug overdose often had sought help for addiction, report finds

We need to accept that even with significantly more measures to discourage drug use, some college students will continue to take illicit drugs, and some of them will overdose. I want colleges to start teaching students how to recognize the signs of a drug overdose — such as shallow breathing or not breathing at all, snoring or gurgling sounds, and blue lips or fingertips — so they become ingrained into students’ minds as a warning sign to get help.

In addition, colleges must provide training and access to Narcan, which can rapidly reverse an opioid overdose. Narcan is administered as a nasal spray or prefilled injection, with additional doses given every two to three minutes as needed. Although this drug is carried by Penn’s Medical Emergency Response Team, it is not easily accessible to the regular student body. I wish I had Narcan on hand last spring break in Mexico; I imagine the students who went into cardiac arrest after overdosing in Florida wish they had had it, too.

“Colleges know there is a problem, but aren’t doing nearly enough.”

I’d also love to see drug testing kits, such as strips that make sure what you’re taking isn’t laced with fentanyl, made accessible at popular party locations, including fraternity houses and bars. By providing students with resources in front of them, so they don’t have to go out of their way, they will be more likely to utilize them. This could reduce the use of laced drugs, which in turn would prevent accidental overdoses.

I believe that university-mandated training to spot and treat the effects of overdose could help prevent further student deaths. I realize this requires admitting that abstinence policies are not enough — but they aren’t. No matter how many flyers we see or anti-drug seminars we attend, some students will continue to do drugs. Colleges must adopt some basic measures to keep them safe.

Mickey Kennedy is a senior at the University of Pennsylvania.