As reported by K-12 Dive, on October 30, 2023 the U.S. Department of Education (USDE) and White House issued a joint “Dear colleague” letter urging schools to protect students from substance abuse and drug poisonings by providing preventative education and preparing for opioid overdoses. In fact, overdose deaths among teens doubled between 2019 and 2020 and are still rising, according to the letter from U.S. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona and White House Office of National Drug Control Policy Director Rahul Gupta.

The letter includes several resources for prevention programs and encourages schools to implement overdose response plans by training people to use naloxone to reverse an opioid overdose.

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To view the Dear Colleague letter, click here.