这封信由 Woodbridge, Conn Amity Regional 高中的 16 岁的亚历山大·克利 （Alexander Klee） 撰写，是学生公开信竞赛的前 9 名获奖者之一，我们收到了 8,065 份参赛作品。
Dear Governor Lamont,
From cutting taxes for working families, to investing in clean energy, to leading our Covid-19 response, you have made lasting and positive change in Connecticut. This is not, however, a time to rest. You must take another look at the opioid overdose epidemic in our state.
While the judicial system has dealt with the Sacklers, the impact of opioids is still sending waves of loss through our communities. In 2022, 1,348 of your constituents died of an opioid overdose, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s State Unintentional Drug Overdose Reporting System. With more potent opioids like fentanyl in our illegal drug supply, these accidental deaths could continue to happen to anyone, anywhere, at any time.
In your defense, Connecticut has done a lot to combat this public health epidemic, like developing the Naloxone + Opioid Response App and increasing access to fentanyl test strips. However, I firmly believe that your administration’s response efforts missed the mark by ignoring high school students.
In our current health curriculum, there is extensive education on illicit substances, their classifications and their impact on our bodies. The Connecticut General Statutes require the Department of Education to include these subjects in our curriculum, but they do not go as far as to mandate instruction on one of the greatest tools available to combat the opioid crisis: Naloxone.
Naloxone is a safe, effective and lifesaving medicine that can reverse an opioid overdose when given in time, per The New York Times. There is room in our health curriculum to teach students how to recognize and reverse an opioid overdose. If teachers are given appropriate materials and support, every high school student in Connecticut could learn these crucial skills.
I strongly urge you to submit a governor’s bill to the Connecticut General Assembly to mandate education in our public high schools on opioid overdose recognition and reversal.
This curriculum mandate is the puzzle piece missing from our health education, and is not without precedent — Maine enacted similar legislation in 2023. Of course, we should know that addictive substances are harmful, but knowing what an opioid overdose looks like, and how to reverse it, is what students need to be a part of the solution.
While students and parents often worry that teaching about Naloxone will encourage drug use, the data actually shows otherwise. A study published in 2023 found that Naloxone access laws are not associated with an increase in substance use among adolescents.
High school should give us the tools necessary for life outside of public education. After graduation, high-risk behavior drastically increases, and it is imperative we have the knowledge to prevent fatalities. Governor Lamont, you can ensure we receive this crucial instruction, which will empower us to fight the opioid overdose epidemic and save lives.
Sincerely,
Alex Klee
Works Cited
Bruzelius, Emilie, et al. Naloxone Expansion Is Not Associated With Increases in Adolescent Heroin Use and Injection Drug Use: Evidence From 44 U.S. States. International Journal of Drug Policy. April 2023.
Hoffman, Jan. 10 Questions About Narcan. The New York Times, 29 March 2023.
Opioids and Drug Overdose Prevention. Connecticut State Department of Public Health.
SUDORS Dashboard: Fatal Drug Overdose Data. U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 26 Feb. 2024.