Ohio City's School Officers Will Carry Overdose Antidote
AKRON, Ohio (AP) - Officers patrolling public middle and high schools in one of northeast Ohio's largest cities will start carrying the overdose antidote naloxone during the coming school year.
The Akron Board of Education voted 5-1 in favor of the policy Monday. Supporters say access to the antidote, also known by the brand name Narcan, could help prevent potential drug deaths amid the opioid epidemic.
Only board member Debbie Walsh dissented. Walsh tells the Akron Beacon Journal she worries it sends the wrong message and gives people the idea that, as she puts it, "As long as there's Narcan, we're safe."
School resource officers at Akron's six high schools and nine middle schools will carry the antidote and be trained to use it. It will be stored in the schools' health clinics.
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