Last year, Ilias Stritikus helped lead a teen harm reduction movement in Durango. Stritikus and several other Durango High School students pushed the 9-R school district for permission to administer medication in an opioid overdose scenario. Typically students don't get involved in medical emergencies on school campuses. But Stritikus and others convinced the 9-R school district to set up a system to allow them to carry and administer Narcan.
Narcan, and its active agent Naloxone, has become a critical harm reduction tool. The nasal spray has proven to be effective in reversing the effects of an opioid overdose.
Colorado has good Samaritan laws in place to protect citizens who use Narcan to help someone who may be overdosing. But the law is unclear when it comes to students on school campuses.
On Monday, Stritikus told Colorado legislators and drug policy experts that the law should be changed to minimize the risks of students overdosing and possibly dying on school grounds.
"The first time I encountered my peers abusing drugs harder than marijuana was in eighth grade," Stritikus said during a virtual meeting of Colorado's Opioid and Other Substance Use Committee. "One of my closest friends at the time walked into our honors language arts class after having taken several mystery pills. It's really hard to find words to describe the horror and helplessness that I felt watching her struggle to walk, struggle to talk, struggle to function."
Shelby DeWolfe also testified at the meeting. DeWolfe is a mental health counselor at the Steamboat Springs school district.
"The (law) is vague," she said. "(It) does not give clear guidance to schools regarding allowing students access to carry Naloxone on school district properties, nor the liability to schools…Many schools across Colorado are hesitant to take that step to address it in their district policies."
On Monday, members of the Opioid and Other Substance Use Study Committee commended Stritikus for his initiative and passion.
Stritikus is proud of the successful campaign in Durango, but he told the committee that teens in other communities should have clear legal protections regarding Narcan.
"Hopefully, the next time that students push for this, it won't take picketing the school board and single-digit weather," he said.
The committee has vowed to draft legislation to address these issues in the 2024 legislative session.
