{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://newhouse.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/newhouse-introduces-legislation-address-skyrocketing-adolescent", "Newhouse Introduces Legislation to Address Skyrocketing Adolescent Fentanyl Overdose Rates", "2023-09-21", "2023", "2023-09", "Republican", "House", "WA", "Dan Newhouse", "N000189", "newhouse.house.gov", "newhouse", "https://newhouse.house.gov/media-center/press-releases", "scraper", "Today, Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-WA), introduced the Stop Overdose in Schools Act to address the skyrocketing adolescent fentanyl overdose rate with Reps. Kim Schrier (D-WA), Marilyn Strickland (D-WA), Derek Kilmer (D-WA), Ryan Zinke (R-MT), and John Moolenaar (R-MI). This legislation would set aside funding for naloxone training and purchasing and increases naloxone access for school resource officers, security personnel, and school nurses.\n\n\u201cFentanyl overdoses are now the leading cause of death for people ages 18-45, and no community has been left untouched by this crisis,\u201d said Rep. Newhouse. \u201cI am proud to introduce the Stop Overdose in Schools Act, which would address the skyrocketing adolescent overdose rate, since it has become clear that our police and school resource officers need more support. This bill will be absolutely critical in helping our hardworking frontline workers prevent the tragic drug-related overdose deaths of Central Washington\u2014and America\u2019s\u2014youth.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe opioid epidemic is a devastating public health crisis that has impacted every part of our nation, including our children. As a mother, a pediatrician, and a congresswoman, I am concerned and understand this issue needs to be addressed from every angle, and that includes in schools,\u201d said Rep. Schrier, M.D. \u201cThe Stop Overdose in Schools Act will allow for school administrators, security personnel, and nurses to be trained in the administration of opioid reversal agents, with a focus in areas with high rates of drug-related overdoses in youth and in rural communities. This should be part of a greater strategy to educate parents and children about the danger of taking any pill not prescribed by a physician and purchased in a pharmacy because \u2018one pill can kill.\u2019 It is time to address this issue and keep our children safe from what could very easily be a fatal overdose.\u201d\n\n\u201cOpioid overdose deaths among children and adolescents have risen exponentially in the last several years, and some of those young lives could have been saved if they had been treated quickly,\u201d said Rep Strickland. \u201cWhile we work in Congress to address the root causes of the opioid crisis in this country, with this legislation, Rep. Newhouse and I are making sure that those on the frontlines of this battle have all the tools they need to save lives.\u201d\n\n\u201cFacing the heartbreaking rise in adolescent overdoses requires bold action and immediate support to our schools,\u201d said Rep. Kilmer. \u201cThe Stop Overdose in Schools Act represents a profound commitment to our young people and the future of communities grappling with substance abuse. There\u2019s no silver bullet to ending overdose deaths \u2013 it\u2019s more like a silver buckshot approach \u2013 and I\u2019m committed to getting federal resources into our communities to protect folks from the dangers of opioid addiction.\u201d\n\n\u201cMaking sure kids are safe at school shouldn\u2019t be a Republican or Democrat issue, it\u2019s an American issue, which is why this legislation is so important to me. Although Montana is far from the Mexican border, we are feeling the effects of the drug cartels smuggling deadly fentanyl across our northern border. Unfortunately, their first stop is the Blackfeet Reservation, and that fentanyl ends up poisoning kids who don\u2019t even know they are taking it,\u201d said Rep. Zinke. \u201cThe Stop Overdoes in Schools Act will help to save lives by equipping and training school staff with Narcan to reverse the effects of fentanyl overdose and poisoning. This is a life-saving and common-sense resource that should be readily available in schools and the bill cannot pass quick enough. I am very proud to be a sponsor of this legislation.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe opioid crisis has impacted Michigan families of every background. Unfortunately, this issue has begun to affect more school children than ever before,\u201d said Rep. Moolenaar. \u201cI am supporting this legislation because it will increase access to life-saving resources and help make sure rural schools in particular receive much-needed funding to confront this crisis,\u201d said Moolenaar.\n\n\u201cNAADAC, the Association for Addiction Professionals, is appreciative of Representative Newhouse as he seeks to increase naloxone access for school resource officers, security personnel, and school nurses and educate those that have first responder contact with American\u2019s youth. The Stop Overdoes in Schools Act allows for 50% of the recipients of this pilot program to be located in rural areas, the areas we know that receive the least amount of resources. NAADAC also applauds that the other 50% is prioritized in school districts with high rates of drug overdoses by youth. This is an important step in lowering the overdose and death rates among youth in American.\u201d\u2014 Cynthia Moreno Tuohy, BSW BSW, NCACII, CDCIII, SAP, Executive Director of NAADAC, the Association for Addiction Professionals\n\nClick here to read the full text of the bill.\n\nBackground:\n\nOver the past couple of years, we have seen a dramatic increase in adolescent drug overdose\u2013largely due to the substantial influx of illicit fentanyl in our communities. During 2019, the first year of the COVID-19 global pandemic, overdose mortality increased by 94%. Unfortunately, this trend continued throughout 2020 and 2021 with an additional increase by 20%. More than 77% of these overdoses were directly caused by fentanyl-related substances.\n\nThe Stop Overdoses in Schools Act is a re-introduction from the 117th Congress, H.R. 7189. Specifically, this bill:\n\nSet aside funds for naloxone training and purchasing.\n\nIncreases naloxone access for school resource officers, security personnel, and school nurses.\n\nRequires that 50 percent of the grants be awarded to school districts in rural areas.\n\nRequires that the remaining 50 percent be prioritized to school districts located in areas with high rates of drug-related overdoses by youth.\n\nAddresses the skyrocketing adolescent overdose rate.\n\nNaloxone is beneficial to school resource officers through the following:\n\nNaloxone, (frequently referred to by the brand name, \u201cNarcan\u201d) is an FDA-approved drug that reverses the effects of opioids, including fentanyl, by blocking their uptake in the bloodstream. If administered quickly, either by injection or nasal spray, it can prevent someone who has overdosed from dying.\n\nSchool resource officers and school nurses are often the first ones on the scene in the event of an overdose that occurs during the school day. If equipped with Naloxone and prepared to deploy it effectively, they can prevent and reduce the number of opioid overdose deaths.\n\nLack of availability and high costs of the necessary personnel, training, and the drug itself are prohibitive to schools in rural areas \u2013 whose budgets are already and increasingly constrained - seeking to develop effective overdose response programs.\n\nRep. Newhouse has been leading the effort to combat the fentanyl crisis in Central Washington and in U.S. Congress:\n\nIn June, Rep. Newhouse introduced the Law Enforcement Officers Preventing Overdose Deaths Act, a pilot grant program for rural community response to allow state and local law enforcement agencies to purchase naloxone, an effective tool to prevent and reduce opioid overdose deaths, and directs at least 50% of the programs\u2019 grant funding to rural communities.\n\nEarlier this year, Rep. Newhouse launched the Central Washington Fentanyl Task Force, a working group of consisting of groups and individuals on the local and state levels who are on the frontlines fighting the fentanyl crisis throughout Central Washington. Task Force members include law enforcement, addiction treatment groups, medical professionals, drug court officials, school resource officers, tribal leaders, elected officials, and community leaders. This October, the task force will hold its second quarterly meeting.\n\nIn March, Rep. Newhouse introduced the William and James Wonacott Act, named after two Yakima brothers who succumbed to fentanyl in separate instances. The legislation enhances penalties for those who sell, give, or distribute any substance that contains two milligrams or more of illicit fentanyl or fentanyl-related substances to another person without their knowledge.\n\nIn January, Rep. Newhouse introduced the Save Americans from the Fentanyl Emergency Act or SAFE Act to permanently schedule all fentanyl-related substances as Schedule I drugs.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-08T00:37:48Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://newhouse.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/newhouse-introduces-legislation-address-skyrocketing-adolescent"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.353070605546236, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}