Taylor Justice, Pranav Padmanabhan and Dennis Pales stand at the Buckeyes for Harm Reduction table on The Oval. The organization kicked off harm reduction week Monday. Credit: Mary Kidwell | Lantern Reporter
Harm Reduction week at Ohio State kicked off Monday with a booth on the Oval focused on bringing awareness to drug overdose prevention.
The week is organized by Buckeyes for Harm Reduction at Ohio State — a student organization that advocates for drug overdose death prevention at the university, local, state and national levels. The organization will have a table on the Oval Thursday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Wednesday from 1:30-4 p.m. where they will offer fentanyl test strips, information about where to get Narcan — an overdose reversal drug — online and outreach to Greek organizations, Dennis Pales, president of Buckeyes for Harm Reduction, said.
Buckeyes for Harm Reduction will also hold a virtual town hall on the opioid crisis Thursday at 7 p.m.
“Fentanyl is what’s driving a lot of the overdoses that we’re seeing right now, especially when we are talking about college students or college-aged students,” Pales, a third-year in biology and public affairs, said. “It’s important that we make sure that people know what they’re using so that they can then use it safely or have Narcan present.”
Pranav Padmanabhan, vice president of Buckeyes for Harm Reduction, said the organization wants to reduce the stigma around drug use to start conversations about harm reduction.
“I personally know of someone who was just out at a restaurant — this is before COVID times — who was carrying Narcan and witnessed an overdose and was able to save that person’s life,” Padmanabhan, a third-year in geography and public health, said.
Specifically, the group is working to educate students about fentanyl, a synthetic opioid 50 to 100 times stronger than morphine that can be laced into drugs such as heroin, cocaine, Adderall and Xanax. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 36,000 people died from overdosing on synthetic opioids other than morphine — mainly fentanyl — in 2019.
In 2019, there were 4,028 deaths from unintentional drug overdoses in the state of Ohio, according to the Ohio Department of Health. Fentanyl was involved in 76 percent of overdose deaths often in combination with other drugs.
In Franklin County, there were 620 total deaths due to overdoses in 2020.
From Jan. 6, 2020, to Dec. 27, 2020, there were 141 suspected overdose runs made by the Columbus Division of Fire and emergency medical services in the 43201 zip code — where many off-campus students live — with 83 suspected overdose emergency room visits. In Franklin County, There were 5,114 suspected EMS runs and 4,747 suspected overdose emergency room visits in that time period.
There were 46 suspected overdose emergency room visits in the 43210 zip code, where many on-campus students live.
Students at Ohio State can receive free Narcan from the pharmacies at Doan Hall and the Ohio State East and James Cancer hospitals, according to the Wexner Medical Center website. It can also be ordered for free through the mail from the Franklin County and Columbus Departments of Public Health.
Pales said students can get involved by stopping at the booth on the Oval, tuning into the Thursday town hall or finding more information on the organization’s Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.
If you or someone you know is struggling with substance use, there are resources available.
- Substance Abuse Mental Health Association 24/7 National Helpline: 800-662-4357
- Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services 24/7 Careline: 800-720-9616
- To access the OhioMHAS 24/7 crisis text line, text “4hope” to 741-741
