SACRAMENTO, CA – Today, Senator Melissa Hurtado (D-Sanger) released the following statement after her bill, SB 367—the Campus Opioid Safety Act was approved by the Senate Education Committee by a 7-0 vote:

“The Campus Opioid Safety Act seeks to reduce opioid related overdose deaths at California’s public colleges and universities,” said Senator Hurtado.” “Young adults in my district are dying from opioid overdoses at a rate that is significantly higher than the statewide average. By requiring campuses to provide naloxone and overdose prevention training, we are increasing access to opioid-reversal medication that will save lives."  

SB 367 seeks to reduce opioid-related overdose deaths at all California public universities by requiring campuses to maintain nasal spray dosages of naloxone (an opioid overdose reversal medication) in campus health centers and to provide educational resources on overdose prevention during campus orientation.

Among traditional college-aged individuals, opioid-related hospitalizations and deaths have risen steadily since 2018, despite the rate of opioid prescriptions continuously declining during the same period. According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) nearly 70,000 people have died from opioid drug overdoses nationwide. Over 5,000 those deaths were in California—more than any other state.

Media Contact: Michelle.Sherwood@sen.ca.gov

About Senator Melissa Hurtado

Senator Melissa Hurtado represents a new generation of Latina leaders as the youngest woman ever elected to the California State Senate and a product of immigrant parents. Senator Hurtado represents the 14th Senate District and focuses on rural community issues that often go unheard — access to clean air and water, food insecurity and poverty, inequities in environmental policies, agriculture and access to health care. In July 2020, she was appointed to the national Biden Latino Leadership Committee alongside former Labor Secretary and current Los Angeles County Supervisor Hilda Solis – the only two California Latinas on the Committee.

For more information, visit Senator Hurtado’s Website here or find her on Twitter at @Senator_Hurtado

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