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Utilizing College Campuses to Combat the Opioid Epidemic

Dream Journal

Hannah Firment - Social Impact

Date Published: 23 May 2023



Recent data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shows that, among adolescents and young adults ages 13-25, opioid-only overdose deaths increased by 384% between 1999 and 2018 (Shelton, 2023). Despite this statistic, college students have limited knowledge about opioid overdose causes, signs and symptoms, mortality rates, and naloxone’s ability to reverse opioid overdose. The “Application of The Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research to inform understanding of barriers and facilitators to the implementation of opioid and naloxone training on college campuses”, by Rachel C. Shelton emphasizes the barriers to college-led opioid interventions in the face of the opioid epidemic among college-aged individuals. This disconnect can be combated with Naloxone training programs which can improve overdose knowledge and response skills and reduce opioid stigma (Shelton, 2023). 


Naloxone is able to block opioid receptors, preventing the harmful effects of an opioid overdose (U.S., 2019). Universities can utilize Naloxone’s effectiveness by centering training programs on when and how to utilize the medication. Columbia University’s students and staff had many recommendations for implementing these programs. They suggested incentivising program attendance with extra credit or integrating them into current, mandatory training programs. These sessions could include freshman orientations or greek life training. Within the programs, students suggested including how to recognize an opioid overdose and when it’s appropriate to administer naloxone. It’s essential that more universities take action to prevent opioid overdoses within both their campus and surrounding communities. Naloxone training programs have successfully led to overdose reversals involving peer-administered naloxone and reductions in population-level opioid-related mortality (Shelton, 2023). College campuses can serve as important frontlines for combatting public-health crises like this one.

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