Bill would let Board of Regents require opioid-overdose response plans at public colleges

Assemblymember Tracy Brownmay presented Assembly Bill 3 94 to the Senate Committee on Education, saying the measure would authorize the Board of Regents to require Nevada System of Higher Education institutions to adopt emergency response plans addressing opioid-related overdoses.

Madeline Larson, a student who spent seven years at the University of Nevada, Reno and helped develop the proposal during the interim, told the committee that campus access to naloxone (an opioid antagonist commonly sold under the brand Narcan) and basic overdose response could prevent deaths. "I do not want 1 of my fellow college students, colleagues, faculty, staff, or their loved ones to die because they or their friends did not know where to get naloxone or how to use it," Larson said.

Under the bill summary presented to the committee, an emergency response plan could include education on opioid overdoses, compassionate response measures (emphasizing rescue breathing and use of naloxone at the lowest effective dose), procedures for distribution and administration of opioid antagonists, ensuring easy access to opioid antagonists, and protections so students are not disciplined for obtaining an opioid antagonist. The bill would allow the Board of Regents to adopt a model plan to assist institutions and would not require people to complete training to obtain or administer an opioid antagonist.

Committee members asked about consistency across campuses and whether the Board of Regents could already require such plans. Assemblymember Brownmay said institutions already have varying emergency response plans and that the bill would promote coordination and a consistent approach; she also said the Board of Regents has been engaged in the interim work and that institutions have indicated support.

Representatives of the Nevada System of Higher Education and individual campuses testified in strong support. Alejandro Rodriguez of NSHE said institutions, university police services and other campus partners worked together during the interim and urged committee support. Testimony in favor also came from UNLV counsel, Nevada State University, the Nevada Public Health Association, the Nevada Psychiatric Association, opioid treatment providers, and student speakers from the BSU network and Faith Lutheran, who described campus training and the importance of access.

Regent Joe Arrascada (identified in testimony) said consistent campus policy on emergency overdose response would make it easier for treatment providers to reach students. Student leaders and a newly elected student body president at UNLV told the committee the measure would remove barriers and save lives by increasing access to naloxone and ensuring students who seek help are not punished.

Brownmay closed by noting broad support in the interim and offering to accept amendments; the hearing record shows no opposition testimony and no committee vote recorded in the transcript.