Assembly committee hears bill to standardize overdose response plans, naloxone access at Nevada public colleges

Assemblymember Tracy Brown-May and student advocate Madeline Larson presented AB394 to the Assembly Committee on Education, asking the Board of Regents of the Nevada System of Higher Education (NSHE) to authorize institutions to adopt emergency response plans for opioid-related overdoses and to make opioid antagonists (naloxone) broadly available on campuses.

The bill would allow the Board of Regents to require each NSHE institution, in consultation with the Division of Public and Behavioral Health in the Department of Health and Human Services, to adopt an emergency response plan that includes: education about opioid overdoses; compassionate response measures; procedures for distribution and administration of opioid antagonists; and ease of access to those antagonists. The sponsor and presenters described proposed amendments to change a numerical dosage reference from four milligrams to “the lowest effective dose to restore breathing” and to add student protections that would prohibit university disciplinary action for students who obtain an opioid antagonist.

Why it matters: supporters said naloxone and other harm-reduction tools can prevent deaths from fentanyl-adulterated substances and argued the bill would standardize good practices across Nevada campuses. Madeline Larson, who described herself as a University of Nevada, Reno student during recent years, said she found “a lot of drug use” on campus and that naloxone access was uneven; she told the committee, “I do not want 1 of my fellow college students, colleagues, faculty, staff, or their loved ones to die because they or their friends didn't know where to get naloxone or how to use it.”

Supporters ranged from campus groups and health organizations to people with lived experience. Patty Charlton, interim chancellor of NSHE, told the committee the system supports consistency across institutions and noted many NSHE campuses already have some plans and distribution sites. Sarah Adler of Silver State Government Relations and the Nevada Opioid Treatment Association, CASAT at UNR, Associated Students (ASUN) and campus health staff described existing training and distribution on some campuses and urged passage.

CASAT, a statewide harm-reduction distributor, provided data about its statewide distribution work and training: it reported distributing tens of thousands of naloxone units and fentanyl test strips to community partners and said it has put naloxone kits and online training into student health workflows at UNR.

Opposition: no organized opposition testimony was recorded for AB394 in the transcript. The hearing record shows no committee vote on the bill during the session captured in the transcript.

What the bill would not do as written: proponents and the text presented to committee emphasized the bill would not require a person to complete training in order to obtain or administer an opioid antagonist and that institutions may tailor plans to their capacity. The bill contemplates a Board of Regents model plan that institutions could adopt or adapt.

Staff next steps and status: the committee opened and closed the hearing on AB394 and received public testimony; no formal committee vote on AB394 was recorded in the hearing transcript.

Ending note: sponsors and many presenters urged the committee to view the bill as a low-barrier, life-saving public-health measure that complements campus counseling, public-safety and student-health resources.