BEFORE ALGEBRA –

August 11, 2022 – I’m not being alarmist: During that same spring break, four students in Florida overdosed on cocaine laced with fentanyl; when two friends began to perform CPR, they were exposed as well. Two students at Ohio State University died in May from an overdose; right after, school officials warned students about circulating fake Adderall pills that contained fentanyl.

Drug use is a fact of life on college campuses. More than one in five college students report using an illicit drug in the past month. With drug use comes the unfortunate chance of overdose, which is also occurring in increasing prevalence. Last year saw a record high of more than 100,000 drug overdose deaths. The number of deaths has spiked 28.5% compared with the same period a year earlier and nearly doubled over the past five years.

Colleges know there is a problem, but aren’t doing nearly enough. I see poorly enforced bans on all illegal drugs and anti-drug flyers on dorm walls; these are ineffective Band-Aids to this issue and have done little to curb the rampant drug use at parties, bars, and even inside student housing.

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