Amidst the war on drugs, CMS is charging into battle armed with Narcan nasal spray.

   In January the CMS board of education unanimously approved a plan to expand the availability of naloxone, also known as Narcan in CMS schools. Narcan is a medication that can rapidly reverse the effects of an opioid overdose but has no effect on those not in the middle of one.

   “It brings the dead back to life,” school resource officer Jerry Silcox said. “I’ve seen people that are completely passed out with no pulse. Medic gives them Narcan and two minutes later they’re up on their feet running around. It’s truly amazing.”

   CMS has provided Narcan to its high schools before. In 2023 most school resource officers were given Narcan, but they were the only ones with access to the medicine. This new plan has given schools more Narcan doses and authorized other staff to use the medicine as well. 

   The extra Narcan was provided by the Mecklenburg County Health Department in March. Two single use nasal sprays will be kept in the front office AED kit at any given time. If either dose is used it will be replaced. However, some think that Narcan should be even more prominent in the school.

 “If I’m in the 300 and someone is having an overdose in 4000 I might not be able to make it to them in time,” Silcox said.

Meanwhile school nurse Missy Shaul agrees with Narcan being in schools but doesn’t see a need to have such an excess at East.

“I haven’t had any incidents of kids using opioids that aren’t prescribed to my knowledge,” Shaul said. “I think it’s fine that we just have the two and hopefully we never have to use them, but they are available to use.”

   Every staff member at East has completed the required online training. If someone has an overdose the first staff contacted will be Silcox, the school nurse or the nearest first responder. 

   Furthermore, while Narcan was only in most high schools and some middle schools, this new plan now requires elementary schools to carry the medicine as well. Drug prevention manager Ricardo Torres believes this is to expand the availability of Narcan within the community.

   “Even though we don’t think that little kids can get access to opioids, we need everybody to have at least a supply of Narcan readily available just in case of an emergency,” Torres said. “If someone does pass out, you’re saving a person’s life, and that’s worth having it everywhere.”

   The new plan comes as deaths from overdoses are becoming more common with the prime suspects being synthetic opioids. Synthetic opioids are painkillers that have been crafted in a lab to be more potent. However if misused they can result in fatal overdoses. The most prominent opioid fentanyl has a lethal dose of just two milligrams.

   Fentanyl has also been being made into counterfeit pills and laced in less potent drugs. So many who overdose don’t even know they came in contact with it.

   “Fentanyl is one synthetic opioid that is now being found in laces,” Torres said. “It’s being mixed into different things, but it still has fentanyl and just a little bit of that can kill you.”

   Fentanyl and other opioids are the leading cause of overdoses in the US. According to the Charlotte Mecklenburg Police Department in 2023 it claimed over 179 lives in Mecklenburg county. A 20 percent increase from the previous year. Narcan is designed to specifically reverse the effects of opioids like fentanyl. It will not affect someone overdosing on a stimulant drug like cocaine. Still the prominence of opioids leaves many believing that its presence is still worthwhile.

 “If someone is having a withdrawal from a substance,” Torres said. “There’s a great chance that Narcan could help revive the person.If a teacher sees a kid pass out and they don’t know what they did, it’s best to use the Narcan, see if it works and call 911 right away.”

   While having Narcan available is an important step, some believe that more can be done to combat overdoses both in and out of school.

   “I think not prescribing narcotics as much as far as prescription,” Shaul said. “Then probably making mental health services more accessible for kids when they need it. Anybody that’s abusing drugs like that probably needs to see a therapist and talk through what’s going on.”