MU student group seeks Narcan in residence halls

The Missouri Students Association at the University of Missouri is in the process of adding an opioid overdose reversal drug to residence halls.

The discussion of putting Narcan in residence halls is still in its early stages. The university will continue to discuss the possibility with MSA, said university spokesman Christian Basi. He said several things still need to be reviewed, including the budget for putting the drug in residence halls, resources, training and more.

Anthony Garcia, a member of the Missouri Students Association, said the group started the initiative after speaking with another university about its program.

Although opioid overdoses are not common on MU’s campus, he said having the drug in residence halls would provide a safety blanket.

He said the product is easy enough for students to use if needed.

“What we’re proposing is the nasal spray area which is super easy to train, easy to impliment, and in crisis scenarios it’s statistically proven to be more effective because people are more comfortable administering it,” Garcia said.

Grant Mertz, another student in MSA, said this is important because peers are often the people who respond to an overdose.

“We want to give that first responder, which is often a bystander, a roommate, an R-A the best tools that we can until EMS or paramedica arrive,” he said.

The university’s police department has trained officers to use Narcan, but it says they have never had to use it.

Despite that fact, Garcia said it is better to be safe than sorry, especially because the opioid epidemic does not show signs of slowing down.

“That’s the same as saying the fire department has fire extinguishers but we shouldn’t have them in the residence halls. We definitely need Narcan right there. There’s people in crisis mode who are at that moment need Narcan,” he said.

The efforts to make Narcan more accessible to students comes three months after an MU student died after taking several Percocet pills.

Boston Perry, 19, was pronounced dead at Mark Twain Residence Hall after someone found him unconscious.

The witness said the pill bottle originally contained 19 pills, and when police found the pill bottle next to Perry on Jan. 22, there were four and a half pills in the bottle, according to a probable cause statement.

Perry was a junior information technologies student from Bethalto, Illinois.

Carson Latimer, an MU student, was charged with the delivery of a controlled substance after allegedly selling the pills to Perry.

Garcia said this initiative could prevent something like that from happening again.

Garcia said the drug would cost $3,000 every other year, based on the price of the kits. The student government body said it has funding for the first year of the initiative, but will seek funding from other sources such as local businesses.

It hopes to have Narcan in the residence halls by the fall semester.

The group still needs to meet with groups such MUPD and residential life.