Minnesota Senate committee advances bill requiring schools keep supply of overdose reversal drug naloxone
ST. PAUL, Minn. -- All Minnesota school districts would keep a supply of opioid overdose reversal medication naloxone under a bill that advanced at the state capitol Thursday.
A panel of lawmakers on the Senate Education Committee approved a measure requiring schools keep two doses of the opiate antagonist nasal spray, known by the brand name Narcan, in each of their buildings. The state would reimburse for the costs.
It's a move advocates have been pushing for as the opioid epidemic fueled by powerful and illicit fentanyl continues to ravage communities across the country.
"We need to ensure naloxone is widely available and easily accessible so lives can be saved," said Sen. Kelly Morrison, DFL-Deephaven, who authored the bill. "Ensuring schools have access to naloxone is critical, so no one dies of overdose at school."
Colleen Ronnei, founder of the nonprofit Change the Outcome, lost her son Luke to an overdose eight years ago. Since then, she's worked with schools to educate students about the dangers of opioid use and told the committee only 15 districts out of more than 300 in the state have naloxone policies right now.
"Our schools are not required to have a simple, life-saving tool despite the fact that we are in the midst of a fentanyl crisis," she said. "We do not have an epidemic of heart attacks, yet we require all public schools in Minnesota to have an operational AED on school grounds at all times."
State data from the Minnesota Department of Health show the number of hospital visits for nonfatal overdoses among school-aged children nearly tripled from 2016 to 2021. That number doesn't include other overdoses treated by emergency responders or by others in the community.
Nationwide, adolescent overdose deaths have increased in the last decade. Most of them last year involved fentanyl, according to one study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
Ten states require schools have naloxone policies, according to a report from Legislative Analysis and Public Policy Association.
In Minnesota, Bloomington Public Schools have kept a supply of naloxone in middle and high schools since 2019. District officials told WCCO in December that they haven't had to use Narcan on a student so far, but staff have experienced close calls. On one occasion, EMS personnel administered it to someone in the ambulance after being called to the school.
Many states have statewide standing orders to allow people to keep a supply of naloxone without a patient-specific prescription. Minnesota does not, and school nurses need to get one under this legislation in its current form.
That was a concern raised by the Minnesota School Nurses Association, though the group supports the policy's intent.
Two advisory panels to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration recently recommended that the overdose reversal drug be available over the counter. Morrison said if that takes effect, those concerns may no longer be an issue.
Supporters of naloxone in schools are optimistic about the legislation's chances this year. This marked the first hearing for the bill, and it's been introduced in the last few sessions.
"Of all the things we do in this chamber, this might be one of the most noble things that comes out of this session," said Sen. Steve Cwodzinski, DFL-Eden Prairie, who's a retired teacher.
Separately, a House panel on Thursday approved legislation to boost funding for the distribution of Narcan kits.