Drug use is a major problem among American high school students with 15% of high school students reporting having used select illicit or injection drugs according to a study by the CDC. According to Chamblee High School students, this drug misuse problem extends to DeKalb
“[Drug misuse is] fairly prevalent, I’d say,” said Claire Otte (‘28). “I don’t necessarily know any statistics, but I do know the smell that I smell when I go around the halls.”
Otte’s belief that drug use is common at Chamblee High School is shared by other students, such as Gabby Leinberger (‘26).
“Drug use is such a wide thing in the school, but nobody really cares,” said Leinberger.
This drug misuse includes not only marijuana and vaping, but narcotics as well. Further evidence of narcotics in DeKalb schools appeared in a recent incident at Dunwoody High School in which a student overdosed on a narcotic and was saved through the quick use of Narcan. Narcan is a substance which can counter the effects of a narcotic or opioid overdose if used quickly after an overdose occurs. Since Narcan usage can be so crucial in saving lives, and must be administered quickly, should Narcan be in our classrooms at Chamblee High School?
“Narcan should absolutely be in our school classrooms,” said Otte. “I truly can’t see any drawbacks to it. I mean it might make someone who’s taking drugs feel like they have a safety net if they do overdose. But in the end, someone might overdose without that safety net.”
Baylor Ingram (‘25) shares Otte’s belief that Narcan’s potential benefits outweigh any perceived drawbacks. Ingram, who has Narcan with him at all times, also believes that people should carry Narcan with them whenever they go out.
“I think our classrooms should have Narcan, and if we are going to issue Narcan to teachers, we also need to make sure that they have the proper training to be able to administer it,” said Ingram. “The sole drawback is that it is probably easy to lose track of. Some teachers would probably just put Narcan into the bottom of a drawer and if somebody overdoses in their classroom they’re not gonna be able to find it in time. But, other than just misorganization, I think Narcan is something that everyone should carry with them.”
If Narcan was to be put into school classrooms, teachers would likely be responsible for its proper storage and usage, so the willingness of teachers is important when considering putting Narcan in schools. Science teacher Leila Warren, who has Narcan in her classroom, believes Narcan should be put into schools because it has no drawbacks. Warren believes Narcan in classrooms is crucial so it can be administered quickly in the event of an overdose.
“What’s great about Narcan is that if it’s not an actual fentanyl overdose, it’s not going to actually hurt the person,” said Ms. Warren. “Our school is huge, and not being able to immediately get the Narcan to the student who needs it or the adult even who needs it would be an issue. If you have it in your classroom, you could administer it right away.”
English teacher Dr. Holly Ingram agrees with Warren that, in the event of an overdose in Chamblee High School, having Narcan in school classrooms would be extremely important given the speed required to save lives with Narcan.
“In the event of an unforeseen and unfortunate incident involving drugs, time is always of the essence, and Narcan is certainly a drug that requires, you know, immediate administration,” said Dr. Ingram. “So I think for that reason, it’s good to have it in the classrooms.”
Beyond the use of Narcan, an important part of preventing deaths from overdoses is preventing the overdoses in the first place, and preventing drug misuse on the whole. Ms. Warren recommends further monitoring of bathrooms, as she believes they are a common site of drug misuse.
“I think the bathrooms are the number one location to do, share, and sell drugs,” said Ms. Warren. “If we had people monitoring the bathrooms, maybe that would minimize the opportunity.”
Even with further drug use preventions in place, Ms. Warren thinks it’s unlikely that drug use will ever fully stop, but that it could be limited with education from those who have previously used drugs.
“You’re never going to stop kids using drugs. That’s going to happen forever,” said Ms. Warren. “But we can minimize that with education where we’re actually talking to kids, not like children, but actually giving real scenarios and having people come in who have overdosed before and been saved. I think those are more powerful messages to kids when they actually talk to people who’ve made mistakes and were lucky enough not to die because of them.”
Otte thinks that helping kids stay away from harmful drug use involves mental health support.
“We have to give a lot of support to kids who are in tough situations; who feel like they have nothing else to turn to than drugs to make their lives better,” said Otte.
When it comes to drug abuse among teenagers, there is no single solution that should be adopted. Narcan can help save lives, but it can’t prevent the root problems that lead teens to turn to drugs. Even though Narcan may only have specific use cases in Chamblee High School’s quest to end teenage drug misuse, it’s a step in the right direction.
“I do think that our school classrooms should have Narcan,” said Trisha Kamat (‘26). “There are no negative effects of having it and I think we’ll be able to prevent some of the negative effects that occur from drug misuse and from drug use in general.”
