Suzy Lanter had not yet taken her first class at Sonoma State University and was already making moves to start a club to support students in recovery from drugs, alcohol and other compulsive behaviors.

“This is my first semester at SSU, but I noticed over the summer that there was no recovery club,” Lanter, 34, said. Seawolves for recovery.”

“We” are Lanter and Santa Rosa Junior College transfer student Martha Piña.

Lanter and Piña, 50, were both active. Students for Recovery club at SRJC. They have a great understanding of the types of support an active recovery club can provide.

And part of that is knowing that some students, even if they’re sober, may have trouble getting through the door.

Piña met with SSU students who said no to the fledgling club’s weekly meetings in Salazar Hall but said yes to grabbing coffee with him.

Some students have transitioned to sobriety but worry about how they will be viewed by their peers. Other students are asking for help taking the first step toward sober living. Maybe more students want to know how they can support their loved ones.

No matter where students are, Lanter and Piña want the club to be what students need and meet them where they are.

“If someone needs help, I really want to be able to offer it,” said Lanter, who has been sober for 10 years. “I want them to know that there is another way to live. We have lived experience. We can do other things besides having to confront our addiction.

Part of that mission is to get Narcan into the hands of students.

Narcan is the brand name for naloxone, a medication that can reverse opioid overdose when used quickly and correctly. It typically comes in the form of a nasal spray and has no ill effects, especially when used on someone who has not overdosed but rather is passed out or asleep.

More than 107 thousand people died from drug overdoses in the United States in 2022 and 3 out of 4 of these deaths involved opioids. The 220 people dying each day in 2021 is up 16% from the previous year, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

California law now requires campuses to offer access to naloxone.

The Campus Opioid Safety Act, in effect since January 1, 2023, requires campus health centers at most public colleges and universities in California to offer free Narcan to students.

At Sonoma State, Narcan is available to students at the Student Health Center. Students cannot receive naloxone from school officials without 30 minutes of training.

Both Lanter and Piña believe that following the letter of the law is not enough. They advocate for SSU to make Narcan more readily available through peer-to-peer programs like Seawolves for Recovery, rather than requiring students to go through official university channels.

“That’s the goal,” Piña said.

Visiting a campus office for Narcan can be intimidating for some students, they said. Stigma still exists.

“I didn’t use to go to the student health center,” said Piña, who has been sober for six years.

When cases of accidental overdose and fentanyl poisoning are skyrocketing, Narcan is a lifesaving tool. They said there should be no shame or judgment in the promotion of Narcan, but support.

The emergence of fentanyl-laced drugs has made youth experimentation increasingly lethal.

The pills, sold through social media or distributed by friends, are likened to legitimate prescription drugs such as Percocet, OxyContin, Xanax or Adderall. But these are increasingly sophisticated, cheaply made and fentanyl-containing fakes. synthetic drug According to studies, this substance can be 50 times more effective than heroin and 100 times more effective than morphine. California Department of Public Health.

“There is no luxury of wondering,” Piña said.

Michelle Leopold’s son, Trevor, died during his freshman year at Sonoma State University in 2019. Leopold said he thought Trevor, who had long struggled with marijuana use disorder, had purchased Oxycodone, a pain-relieving drug.

It was fentanyl.

Today, Michelle, who regularly speaks to high school and college-age audiences about the dangers of experimentation in today’s drug scene, wears a button that lets people know she’s carrying Narcan.

Drugs like fentanyl make carrying Narcan a vital safety precaution.

Mo Phillips, SSU director of student engagement, disagrees. The person who brought Phillips Leopold is on campus to speak. at freshman orientation.

Narcan is available on the SSU campus at the Green Music Center, the Recreation Center, athletic department outposts and other locations, Phillips said.