Citing concern about illegal drug use, the Berlin school board will be making the anti-overdose drug Narcan available in its schools.
Almost six percent of Berlin high school students admitted trying heroin at least once, according to a 2013 student survey prepared by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, says Corinne Cascadden, the superintendent of the Berlin schools.
“The state average is 3.3 percent. That is the alarm that went off for me.”
Late last week the five-member school board unanimously voted to put Narcan in the schools, says Nicole Plourde, the board’s chair.
“Each of the schools will decide on its own who is going to be administering it. Very likely it will be in the school nurse’s office. The best case scenario is that we will never have to use it.”
Berlin becomes the fifth school district in New Hampshire to allow the use of Narcan, according to a state official who did not immediately identify the other four.
