How Texas school districts, student athletes are shining "Friday Night Lights" on the opioid epidemic
NORTH TEXAS (CBSNewsTexas.com) — As overdose deaths continue to rise nationally, high school administrators, coaches, and student athletes in North Texas are teaming up to fight the opioid and fentanyl epidemic.
"If we can save one life, it's worth it," said Dallas Cowboys legend Randy White, who helped launch the Coaches vs. Overdoses initiative in McKinney Thursday. "The more people that get educated and spread the word, the better we're going to be in fighting this problem."
White's son-in-law died a few years ago when he took a single pill for knee pain that was unknowingly laced with fentanyl.
"If your name's not on the prescription, don't take it," White said. "When you go through it firsthand...you don't want to see it happen to anyone else."
At varsity football games this Thursday and Friday, school districts across Texas will be passing out a prevention playbook to educate people about the dangers of misusing prescription drugs, along with a drug disposal packet.
People can use it to easily get rid of pills that may be sitting in the house unused, which is how many teens first get their hands on opioids.
"Everybody is so busy, but we know they come here Friday night," said McKinney ISD Superintendent Shawn Pratt. "To watch their kids or their kids' friends or just watch their alma mater. So we get big crowds. They don't even know they came to be educated, but they become educated."
Students are also hopeful the effort will make a difference.
"It's really a big problem, and I do appreciate that adults and people with authority are actually doing something about it," said Tonderai Mukahanana, a senior at McKinney North High School.
School districts in Delaware, Georgia, Maryland and South Carolina are also taking part in the Coaches vs. Overdoses program. With 400 schools in five states, they hope to reach more than a million parents and student athletes this year.