Alexandria City leaders turn to community for help in combatting drug overdoses
WASHINGTON - Students spoke out Thursday about the dangers of drugs as Alexandria City leaders are turning to the community for help in cracking down on drug overdoses.
The warning about the dangers of drugs comes after two students are suspected of overdosing. One of the students FOX 5 spoke with says it was his friend who suffered a drug overdose.
Rise in child opioid overdoses prompts warning from Virginia city
The City of Alexandria is worried after seeing more and more school-aged kids using drugs. Now they are issuing warning about a recent spike in Fentanyl-related overdoses.
FOX 5 reached out to Alexandria City Public Schools and city leaders for more information about when and where these suspected overdoses happened, but have not heard back.
The city offers free Narcan at the health department and treatment for opioid use and addiction, But city leaders are now asking the community to get involved in the conversation and asking the public to do their part to learn and understand how to recognize and treat overdoses and to spread the word about the dangers of drugs -- especially with teens.
Students tell FOX 5 they feel the most effective way to get the message to students about the dangers of drug use is for students to hear from other students.
Alexandria Public Schools, DEA host substance abuse prevention workshop for parents
Alexandria Public Schools is teaming up with the DEA to provide families with the tools they need to keep their kids safe from drugs.
"What the solution is is to get kids to talk with other kids, because it's probably better to have a sit-down conversation with a couple friends instead of having a presentation that's shared to each classroom, not personalized to different kinds of mindsets," said student Fatima Arevalo Zambrano.
City leaders say residents can also help by discarding any unused or expired medication.