Victory for Harm Reduction in Pennsylvania!
Earlier this month, the Susquehanna University chapter of Students for Sensible Drug Policy in Selinsgrove, PA achieved a major policy victory—they officially obtained approval to distribute naloxone, a life-saving opioid overdose reversal drug, to students on campus.
This huge win came after a year long battle of navigating the school’s bureaucracy to expand access to harm reduction services.
SU’s SSDP chapter saw a need for naloxone distribution and education because overdose is the leading cause of death in young people. “With college students at high risk of overdose, it is vital that we all have naloxone and know how to use it,” said Kennedy Landers, president of Susquehanna University’s chapter and a member of SSDP’s youth-led Board of Directors.. “Our chapter is focused educating our peers on harm reduction, and overdose response training is at the very heart of harm reduction.”
After sending a policy recommendation to SU administration, University President Johnathan Green gave SSDP permission to distribute naloxone on campus as part of their International Overdose Awareness Day Vigil on September 1st.
“There is merit in making naloxone much more widely available,” Green wrote in a letter to Landers and SU SSDP.
The Chapter is hosting a vigil for International Overdose Awareness Day on September 1st from 7:00-8:30 pm at Susquehanna University. Speakers include SU President Johnathan Green and Pamela Comfort-McGinness from United in Recovery, as well as performances from Sydnie Howard and SU’s Harmonic Combustion. Free naloxone will be available to attendees while supplies last.
