COVINGTON, Ky. -- Narcan, an opiate antidote that has become easier to access amid Kentucky's heroin epidemic, could soon be in the commonwealth's high schools.
Adapt Pharma, a pharmaceutical company, is offering free Narcan nasal spray to high schools nationwide.
"Here in 2016, it appears that access to Narcan is as important as defibrillators were when we were putting them in public buildings," said Van Ingram, of the Kentucky Office of Drug Control.
The Office of Drug Control will present the idea to Kentucky's school districts beginning in September. It will be up to each district to decide whether it accepts the Narcan.
Administrators in Boone, Campbell and Kenton counties said it's too early to decide.
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If Kentucky's public schools accept Adapt Pharma's offer, school nurses would most likely be the ones to administer Narcan.
"We've looked at overdose situations when adults who were on school campuses for sporting events or for other events who have overdosed, so it's not just aimed at for students," Ingram said.
Earlier this year, Kroger announced its Tri-State stores would begin selling Narcan without a prescription. And at Mentoring Plus in Newport, teens and kids are being trained on how to use the antidote.
According to the most recent data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Kentucky ranks among the worst states in drug overdose deaths, at 24.7 per 100,000.
