Governor DeWine Announces Expanded Program to Provide Lifesaving Overdose Reversal Supplies and Test Strips to More College Campuses
(COLUMBUS, Ohio)?Ohio Governor Mike DeWine today announced an expanded collaboration between RecoveryOhio and the Ohio Departments of Higher Education, Mental Health and Addiction Services, and Health to provide emergency naloxone access cabinets for installation on independent college and university campuses across the state.? This expansion, where only public institutions were previously eligible, also includes the availability of fentanyl testing strips for campuses that request them.
?Expanding access to these valuable, lifesaving tools allows every life saved another opportunity to experience recovery,? said Governor DeWine. ?Protecting students from potentially deadly drug overdoses is an important part of our commitment to safer college and university campuses.?
House Bill 341, signed by Governor DeWine in 2020, expanded access to naloxone through different means of distribution, including the emergency access cabinets. Earlier this year, up to five emergency access cabinets were offered at no cost to each of Ohio?s public colleges and universities. That offer has been expanded to include Ohio?s independent colleges and universities.
Naloxone, when administered during an opioid overdose (from heroin, fentanyl, or prescription pain medications), blocks the effects of opioids on the brain and quickly restores breathing.? Like a wall-mount AED machine, these cabinets contain doses of naloxone and can be installed in public places across campus.?
?We know the drug epidemic has impacted Ohioans across the State and that no community is immune.? We want to ensure that all Ohioans have access to naloxone when and where they need it? said Aimee Shadwick, RecoveryOhio Director.??
This is a voluntary program. It is recommended that each institution that receives an emergency access cabinet create a policy establishing how often each box shall be reviewed and restocked, with attention paid to the expiration dates of the product.
?The DeWine-Husted Administration continues to demonstrate its dedication to campus safety,? said Department of Higher Education Chancellor Randy Gardner. ?I?m pleased to be able to partner with RecoveryOhio, as well as the Ohio Department of Health and the Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services to? expand this collaboration and include the fentanyl testing strips to further enhance safety on all of our college campuses.?
In April 2023, Senate Bill 288 took effect, clarifying in Ohio law that fentanyl test strips are not illegal drug paraphernalia. Since then, the State has been working to make the test strips available to Ohioans.
Fentanyl is a highly addictive drug that officials at the Bureau of Criminal Investigation are seeing increasingly mixed with other street drugs due to its high potency. ?Fentanyl is impossible to detect without a test because it is odorless and tasteless. Providing test strips will let individuals know if it?s present.? Further, the Ohio Department of Health reports that 2022 preliminary figures indicate that 81% of drug overdose deaths in Ohio involved fentanyl.
Institutions of higher education will be receiving information about how to order emergency access cabinets and fentanyl test strips. Ohioans can order naloxone and fentanyl test strips to be delivered to their homes through the website?naloxone.ohio.gov.
Other Media Contacts:
Ohio Department of Health: Ken Gordon, 614-644-8562 Ohio Department of Higher Education: Jeff Robinson, 614-752-9487 Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services: Eric Wandersleben,?614-359-6754
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