LITTLE ROCK — Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin on Monday launched the “One Pill Can Kill” initiative at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock.
The initiative is a college-focused program to raise awareness of the danger of fentanyl and opioid abuse.
In 2022, around the time drug overdoses peaked in Arkansas, the State Crime Lab reported 457 opioid overdose deaths, more than half of which (251) involved fentanyl.
Arkansas has since worked to tackle the issue through legislation and programs like “One Pill Can Kill,” which is funded by opioid settlement funds managed by the attorney general.
“We are targeting college campuses in particular, because a lot of the addiction that we see, particularly for illicit drugs, it starts at this age group,” Griffin said at a press conference at UALR on Monday.
Monday, UA Little Rock nursing students taught over 100 of their peers how to use Narcan to save someone overdosing. Students were given fentanyl harm prevention kits, which include fentanyl test strips and pill identification material.
“A lot of students are taking medication or pills and they’re thinking that it’s something else, like ibuprofen, Tylenol or another drug that they weren’t aware that had fentanyl in it and accidentally overdosing. And it’s happening a lot, so they’re wanting to educate on that and just have a preventative in there so that we can save some lives,” said Shaina Myers, a UA Little Rock nursing student.
Myers understands better than some just how dangerous fentanyl is.
“I’ve had a few friends that have overdosed in my lifetime, so yeah, this is hitting personal for me,” Myers said.
Recognizing the severity of the issue, the attorney general’s office is going a step further and paying for the installation of vending machines on campus that will make Narcan available for free.
But the best thing students can be equipped with in defense against opioid abuse and potential overdose is knowledge—and each other.
“What we’re trying to do is to educate that peer group and make sure that our students, when they come into contact with a negative influence, they’re more likely than not to have a positive influence, a positive peer group, a positive friend that will help them make a better decision,” said UA Little Rock Chancellor Christina Drale at Monday’s press conference.
It’s encouraging to note that drug overdose deaths in Arkansas are on the decline, dropping by 24 percent between 2023 and last year, according to CDC data.
