StopIt
Arizona is facing an opioid overdose epidemic, claiming five lives per day. Among all age groups, Arizona recorded more than 1800 opioid-related deaths and more than 4,000 overdoses in 2023.
Citing the growing incidents of Fentanyl deaths and overdoses among Arizona school-aged children, schools chief Tom Horne has announced an initiative to supply schools with the anti-overdose drug Narcan and the creation of a statewide task force to address this growing crisis. He has also endorsed an effort to get free anti-drug awareness materials into all Arizona schools.
Arizona law requires schools to have policies and procedures regarding emergency use of Naloxone:
- Legislative Requirements for Naloxone in Schools:
- Naloxone Administration Requirements:
- Naloxone Reporting Requirements:
“There are also geographic hotspots of adolescent overdose deaths, many of which are in the western United States.
Arizona, Colorado, and Washington State had mortality nearly twice the national average or higher in 2020–2022.
An assessment of hotspot counties — defined as those that had at least 20 overdose deaths and mortality higher than the national average during this period — revealed 19 counties of high concern.
Maricopa County, Arizona, and Los Angeles County, California, had the highest number of fatal overdoses, with 117 and 111 deaths, respectively. School-based interventions could be prioritized in these counties.”
The School Training Overdose Preparedness and Intelligence Taskforce (STOP-IT)
has been formed to help schools with this crisis.
The task force includes representatives from schools, health care, law enforcement, and other interested stakeholders.
Holly Geyer
Chair
Mayo
Clinic
Mike Kurtenbach
Co-Chair
Arizona Department
of Education
Rebecca Astorga
Arizona Department of Education
Adena Bernstein
Attorney General’s Office
Eve Breier
Children First Leadership Academy
Tim Brienza
Yuma Union High School District
Geoffrey Brown
Northwest Christian School
Aiden Bryson
Student Representative (Public Charter School)
Ray Bunch
Phoenix Children’s Hospital
Samantha Burke
Student Representative (Public School)
Jamie Burnett
Arizona High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas
Vanna Campion
Terros Health
Manuel Cano
Arizona State University
Kevin Cashett
Dysart Schools
John Croteau
Dysart Schools
Raminta Daniulaityte
Arizona State University
Dawn Densmore
Arizona Department of Education
Aja DeZeew
Cobre Valley Institute of Technology
Cathy Dobler
Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System
Gretchen Dorner
Kingman Unified School District
Melanie Durden
Arizona Department of Education
Merilee Fowler
MATForce
Ivonne Garber
Arizona Department of Education
Joseph Gaw
Tucson Unified School District
Hector Gonzalez
Yuma Union High School District
Michael Gunderson
Arizona Counterdrug Task Force
Haley Horton
Community Medical Services
Christi Jen
Mayo Clinic
Catharina Johnson
Arizona Department of Education
Philip Johnson
Community Medical Services
Rob Kirchoff
Mayo Clinic
Gary Kirkilas
Phoenix Children’s Hospital
Jon Kronstedt
Crestview Preparatory High School
C.J. Loiselle
Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System
Ashley Lowe
University of Arizona
Kevin Mach
Arizona Department of Education
Elizabeth Markona
Arizona Department of Health Services
Wendy Miller
Challenge Charter School
Randy Moffitt
Arizona High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas
Michael Penca
Flagstaff Unified School District
Meghan Peterson
University of Arizona
Chy Porter
Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System
Samantha Reeves
Arizona Department of Education
Krystal Renszel
Mayo Clinic
Mary Ellen Rimsza
Child Mortality Review Committee
Maureen Roland
Banner Health
Dave Schad
Terros Health
Doug Skvarla
Arizona Board of Pharmacy
Yanitza Soto
Phoenix City Manager’s Office
Deb Stoks
Governor’s Office of Youth, Faith and Family
Karen Tepper
Teros Health
Katie Tracey
Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System
Gabriel Trujillo
Tucson Unified School District
Desiree Voshefsky
Community Medical Services
Jenny Walker
Arizona Department of Education
William Walker
Arizona Department of Education
Autumn White
Arizona Department of Education
- Read through the STOP-IT Talking Points to get answers to questions you may have about opioids, STOP-IT efforts, and the legislation that governs this work in Arizona.
Publications:
- Arizona Department of Education Launches STOP-IT Taskforce to Raise Awareness About Fentanyl's Dangers
- Arizona Capitol Times, October 17, 2024.
- These Are Our Children. Let's Take Them Back.
- Raising Arizona Kids, September 24, 2024.
- Arizona STOP-IT Tackles Fentanyl in Schools
- Arizona PBS, August 12, 2024.
- If We Don't STOP-IT, Who Will?
- Arizona Journal of Pharmacy, July 25, 2024.
Narcan for Arizona K-12 Schools
Memo to Schools Informational Flyer
Through valuable partnerships with the Arizona Department of Health Services and the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System, the Arizona Department of Education and STOP-IT proudly announce an initiative to stock Arizona K-12 schools with opioid antagonist (e.g., naloxone, Narcan) kits.
For more information, please contact [email protected] or email the STOP-IT inbox.
