(Akron, Oh.)-School Resource Officers in the Akron Ohio School System will begin carrying the overdose antidote Naloxone during the next school year.
The antidote also known by the brand name Narcan, could help prevent potential drug deaths amid the opioid epidemic. The antidote, in the form of nasal spray, will be stored in the schools' health clinics and the officers will be trained to use it.
The Akron Board of Education voted 5-1 in favor of the policy Monday only board member Debbie Walsh dissented according to the Associated Press. Walsh tells the Akron Beacon Journal she worries it sends the wrong message and gives people the idea that, as she puts it, "as long as there's Narcan, we're safe."
The officers patrol the school districts nine public middle and six high schools.