News release
Assemblywoman Pilar Schiavo, D-Chatsworth, joined a legislative press conference on National Fentanyl Awareness Day to offer her support for the bipartisan solutions moving forward in the Legislature to tackle the fentanyl crisis.
Her support includes co-authoring Assembly Bill 19, which would ensure naloxone hydrochloride, also referred to as NARCAN, is available in schools.
“As a mom, it is terrifying to think about what my daughter will face in the near future going into middle school and high school. This is truly a crisis that we are committed to addressing, to solving, and to making a difference on in a real way,” Schiavo said in the May 9 press conference, according to a statement released by the assemblywoman’s office.
“We need to focus on things that are actually going to make an impact and change people’s lives and prevent these tragedies from happening in our communities,” she added. “That’s one of the reasons I’m co-authoring AB 19, so schools are able to respond to the crises we are too often seeing in our schools and with our students.”
Last year, 6,843 people died in California from opioid overdose and more than 83% of these deaths were related to fentanyl. AB 19, the fentanyl bill Schiavo is co-authoring, will require each public school to maintain at least two doses of naloxone hydrochloride on its campus.
Naloxone is a medicine that rapidly reverses an opioid overdose, quickly restoring normal breathing to a person if their breathing has slowed or stopped because of an opioid overdose.
