On Tuesday, the Alabama Senate passed legislation to require Alabama public K-12 schools to instruct students about the dangers of fentanyl and fentanyl poisoning. The Senate passed the bill unanimously and it now goes to Governor Ivey for her signature.
House Bill 280 is sponsored by State Representative Joe Lovvorn (R-Auburn). The bill was carried in the Senate by Senator Jay Hovey (R-Auburn). Hovey sponsored the same legislation in the Senate.
“This bill is, if I may, a pretty personal bill for the House sponsor,” said Sen. Hovey. “It is adding fentanyl language to the current K-12 school drug education policy and adding fentanyl language specifically in response to a situation that happened in Auburn a few years ago. A young man, Price Hornsby, this bill is named for Price Hornsby.”
“Price was a 17-year-old recent graduate of Auburn High School awaiting an opportunity to serve in our nation’s armed services,” Hovey explained. “During that time of anxiety, he had some trouble sleeping. He took a pill from an associate he went to school with and unknowingly ingested fentanyl to his detriment and didn’t make it.”
Over 111,000 Americans died from drug overdoses and poisoning in 2023. Drug overdoses is now the leading causes of death for Americans between the ages of 16 and 45. Most of those are from fentanyl.
“Fentanyl is wreaking havoc on our young people specifically. The thought with this bill is the lack of conversation,” Hovey continued. “Fentanyl victims are all too often everyday students that don’t have a drug problem and aren’t your stereotypical drug user.”
Sen. Rodger Smitherman (D-Birmingham) asked Hovey to explain what the bill does.
Hovey answered that this is, “Adding specific language for fentanyl to the existing K-12 curriculum on drug intervention and drug education.”
“That is a good bill,” said Smitherman.
Proponents of the legislation hope that implementation of this legislation will be expedited by the Alabama Department of Education so that it can be added to the curriculum for the 2024/2025 school year that begins in August.
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