OLYMPIA, WA – (KGMI.com) Washington is taking action to further combat the effects of the opioid epidemic among teenagers.
The state Department of Health announced Wednesday that they’re offering two kits of naloxone to all public high schools.
Naloxone, also known as Narcan, is a medicine that reverses the harmful effects of an opioid overdose.
The department says overdoses have surged among young people in recent years.
Rates of opioid-related deaths among 14- to 18-year-olds increased nearly threefold from 2016 to 2022.
State law already requires school districts with 2,000 or more students to stock at least one set of the overdose reversal medication in each high school.