There have been five fentanyl over­doses, one of them fatal, in the Mason district area this 2023–2024 school year. In Fair­fax County, there were four fatal over­doses in 2022. The use of any substance such as alco­hol, tobacco, or other drugs is prohib­ited by the school board, but drug use persists in many schools.

If a student is caught abus­ing any substance they would meet with a special­ist in the school’s substance abuse preven­tion program who would find an appro­pri­ate level of inter­ven­tion. Students may face conse­quences but the prior­ity is to have students get off these drugs and be healthy. Secu­rity Offi­cer David Wall explains that with students who are caught with narcotics, the intent is not only to disci­pline but also to educate. “One, it’s a habit, two, it’s a prob­lem and it could be an addiction…discipline is not going to solve all of these prob­lems,” explains Wall. These plans are in the Students’ Rights and Respon­si­bil­i­ties regard­ing these substances. 

Due to modern tech­nol­ogy, access­ing drugs is much easier than it has been in the past. Purchases of any substance no longer have to be in person. Lt. Colonel Eli Cory, Deputy Chief of Police for Inves­ti­ga­tions explains that in the past the trans­ac­tion for drugs was called an outdoor market­place, “Today, it’s a little more sophis­ti­cated than that. There’s so many social media apps, commu­ni­ca­tions apps, that it really has gone from that open-air market to a very elec­tronic marketplace…these trans­ac­tions are happen­ing digi­tally for the most part.” Unfor­tu­nately, this means that these drugs are acces­si­ble to a younger audience.

Fair­fax County is one of the few juris­dic­tions that have an over­dose unit, a team of detec­tives that inves­ti­gate the use of narcotics. Their goal is to help those who are addicted and get them off said drugs. “We recog­nize that it’s less of a crime, it’s more of a medical issue,” explains Cory. 

At Justice High School, secu­rity and the offi­cers are often made aware of the use of fentanyl in school by other students. Admin­is­tra­tors have been doing as much outreach as possi­ble to educate students and parents about this issue. Admin­is­tra­tors are all trained to use Narcan and have access to it. After the pandemic, the use of fentanyl has been on the rise. There has been a decrease in the use of any narcotic when compared to the last school year. 

Recently, the over­doses that have taken place have been due to fentanyl. Fentanyl is an extremely potent drug that is a synthetic opioid. It is used as a pain relief drug that is only meant to be admin­is­tered in a hospi­tal setting. It is stronger than heroin and morphine as an anal­gesic. Its potency level is more likely to cause an overdose…That does not mean that the over­dose is always fatal. That is depen­dent on the amount of fentanyl taken and the child’s expe­ri­ence with fentanyl. “So if fentanyl is extremely potent [cartels] don’t have to traf­fic as much as if they were traf­fick­ing heroin or anything else…If I lose some of the prod­uct it’s fine,” explains Tiffany J. Jones a Senior Substance Abuse Preven­tion Special­ist. Jones explains that 7 out of 10 confis­cated drugs on the streets have fentanyl and many users are not aware they are using fentanyl.

The impact of these narcotics can be seen in a child’s behav­ior. They become more with­drawn and discon­nected from the things that usually bring them excite­ment. Drugs impact the way some­one can navi­gate their day to day and they may even present them­selves differ­ently. Parents must notice the behav­ior changes even if they are not obvi­ous so that they can help their child stop the use of what­ever narcotic they are using. Jones explains that any distinct behav­ior change may be a sign of drug use but notic­ing the behav­ioral changes may be diffi­cult. “It may be a little tricky because kids change and grow with time. So you just have to know your child,” says Jones. 

In a youth survey of the students in FCPS, 3% of students have admit­ted to using painkillers and other prescrip­tion drugs for nonmed­ical reasons. This survey was volun­tary so it was not taken by the entire student popu­la­tion, and it is self-reported by 8^th, 10^th, and 12^th graders. Ten percent of those students have admit­ted to using marijuana. 

Unfor­tu­nately, the mental battles that students deal with may be the main moti­va­tor behind the use of drugs. It’s impor­tant to remem­ber that there is help avail­able for students. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Admin­is­tra­tion has a hotline number that is open ²⁴⁄₇: 1−800−662−4357.