BEAVERTON, Ore. — U.S. Rep. Suzanne Bonamici plans to soon introduce a bill in Congress that would provide grant funding to school districts nationwide educating students on the dangers of fentanyl and counterfeit pills. The bill will be based on a Beaverton School District educational campaign called ‘Fake and Fatal.' The campaign was first started in 2021, to teach students about the dangers of opioids and counterfeit pills.
“We think it is critically important for students to hear this message at this moment in time,” Beaverton School District Spokesperson Shellie Bailey-Shah said.
Middle and high schoolers within the Beaverton School District receive the yearly education in their health class or advisory. Some staff members are also trained to administer naloxone in case of an overdose on campus.
That’s part of a three-pronged approach. Students learn about the dangers of fentanyl and other opioids in school and at home.
“There are too many deaths, often from what is known as fake pills,” Bonamici said.
The ‘Fake and Fatal’ campaign began after several Beaverton students died in the 2020-21 school year from fentanyl poisoning. Since then, there have been no reports of students overdosing from fentanyl.
One former student who overdosed in December 2020 was Cal Epstein. The 18-year-old had just begun his freshman year of college at the University of Hawaii.
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“This was something that we were not expecting,” Cal Epstein’s father, Jon said.
He said he later found out Cal had purchased what he thought was oxycodone online. Instead, it was fentanyl.
“He didn’t know about the dangers of counterfeit pills and fentanyl,” Jon Epstein said.
The Epstein’s have since partnered with the Beaverton School District to make students aware about the dangers present. On Friday, two students said the education has made them more aware and cognizant of the dangers of pills.
“Our teachers and those who develop the curriculum have made a point of trying to stay abreast of all the changes in the drug landscape so that what we’re teaching in the classroom can be as current as possible,” Bailey-Shah said.
Federal officials said there is bipartisan support to mandate fentanyl education nationwide.
“It has to be all of us on deck trying to do this,” U.S. Secretary of Human and Health Services Xavier Beccera said.
Beccera said the dangers of fentanyl is getting worse, with the drug now 50 times deadlier than heroin.
“Our family’s not the same as it was 2.5 years ago,” Cal Epstein’s mother, Jennifer said. “And it won’t ever be the same again.”
Oregon recently passed Senate Bill 238, mandating that fentanyl awareness education is taught to students all throughout the state. It will go into effect January 1, 2024.