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Bill would require opioid‑overdose response training for school resource officers and improve reporting of campus overdoses
Summary
AB 1586 would require optional SRO volunteers to be trained to carry and administer naloxone and mandate opioid-overdose response training through POST every two years; supporters told the committee fentanyl in counterfeit pills has increased youth overdose risk on campuses; the committee passed the bill as amended to the Senate Public Safety Committee.
Assemblymember Ramos presented AB 1586 to the committee as a measure to ensure school resource officers (SROs) who volunteer to serve on campus have standardized opioid‑overdose response training and safe access to naloxone. The bill would require an opioid‑overdose response training every two years through the Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) and create a process so SROs electing to serve as volunteers may safely carry and administer naloxone.
Stuart Selecta, program operations supervisor at Tarzana Treatment Centers, described overdoses on campuses and said rapid response matters: “Often seconds matter,” he testified, urging the committee to approve the measure. Tom Renfrey, a policy consultant for the California Association of Alcohol and Drug Program Executives, said proliferation of fentanyl in counterfeit pills has raised overdose risks among adolescents who may unknowingly ingest lethal doses.
Testimony from school nurses, pediatricians’ representatives and mental‑health organizations supported the bill as a pragmatic emergency measure that aligns training and naloxone distribution. Witnesses noted the Department of Health Care Services’ statewide naloxone distribution project and said the bill would leverage existing resources at low cost.
The committee passed AB 1586 as amended to the Senate Public Safety Committee and placed the bill on call for absent members.
