A new vending machine in the USC Village welcomed students back from winter break. But the machine doesn’t sell Sprite, Doritos or Coca-Cola.
Instead, as a partnership between USC Pharmacies and Student Health, the newly operating vending machine is stocked with pharmacy items like Tylenol and contraception products.
It also sells Narcan — an emergency life-saving nasal spray that can reverse the effects of an opioid overdose. The vending machine is just one of several new methods at USC meant to address the opioid epidemic.
In addition, students have taken matters into their own hands to prevent fentanyl overdose deaths through peer education. One organization doing this is Team Awareness Combating Overdose (TACO) Inc., a non-profit educational organization founded by five USC students after three students died from accidental fentanyl overdoses on campus in 2019.
The USC chapter of TACO hands out free fentanyl test strips every Tuesday and Friday on campus and Greek Row, redistributes research-backed data on drug use and holds Narcan training sessions.
Aisling Covell, the president of TACO USC and a senior majoring in human biology, described TACO as a “neutral” way for students to access information about drug use.
“Especially at prestigious universities like USC, you might be coming out of state and entering a new stage in your life where there’s so many novel experiences that you’re surrounded by,” Covell said.
She emphasized how first-time drug users may be at higher risk of accidentally overdosing if they lack knowledge about potential drug lacing.
Accidental overdoses are increasingly common due to fentanyl being laced with other drugs, unbeknownst to users. Fentanyl is about 100 times more potent than morphine and 50 times more potent than heroin, according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.
Daryl L. Davies, a professor of clinical pharmacy and the associate dean for undergraduate education at the USC Mann School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, said college party settings — where fentanyl-laced drugs may be present — underscore the importance of having Narcan on hand.
“If a novice comes in, such as someone at college or at Coachella,” Davies said, “and friends are passing some things around, and no one’s even thinking about it. They get hit with this dose of fentanyl — and whammy. If there’s Narcan, their life might be saved. If not, they’re dead.”
In case of such situations, Covell said she hopes for the proper use of Narcan, also known as naloxone, to be widely taught.
“Something that people don’t normally know about Narcan is that it’s a temporary fix,” said Covell, a certified Narcan trainer through TACO Inc.
Opioids can stay in the body even past the 30 to 90-minute window that Narcan is effective, so seeking emergency medical services afterward is vital, according to the Cleveland Clinic.
In addition to Narcan being sold in the new pharmacy vending machine, it is also available to students for free through the NaloxoneSC program. The program initially required completion of a quiz on Narcan administration to receive a naloxone kit, but has shifted to an open “fishbowl” distribution for students to freely grab at the Student Health Centers.
A third-year pharmacy student at USC Mann, Shannon De Leon, oversees NaloxoneSC as the president of USC’s chapter of the American Association of Psychiatric Pharmacists.
“We distribute naloxone so that students can willingly walk into the Student Health Centers without the stigma and without the cost,” De Leon said. “When one student does it, another student may follow suit, and I think that’s where peer-to-peer education is the most important.”
According to Melissa Durham, an associate professor of clinical pharmacy at USC Mann and a clinical pharmacist at the USC Pain Center, the social environment of college campuses makes it a valuable location to spread prevention education.
“Whether it’s in the classroom or whether it’s in social clubs or in the Greek system … really getting that word out on a peer basis, I think, is really effective,” Durham said.
Durham also pointed out that the risk of overdose increases when opioids are combined with other substances commonly present at parties.
Harm reduction, one of the key facets of TACO Inc., spreads resources that minimize the negative consequences associated with drug use. Covell emphasized the value of being a peer-to-peer resource that serves as a “middle ground” between peers who may promote drug use and parents who may push for complete abstinence.
“We neither encourage or discourage,” Covell said. “You never know what’s going to happen. So we might as well keep people safe.”