WA Colleges and Universities Now Must Provide NARCAN, Test Strips

A WA State House Bill that passed the last legislative session went into effect in July, and now its effect is being seen on college campuses in WA.

   New law requires all schools to provide Narcan and test strips.

House Bill 2112 was pushed through by Democrats, and requires all higher education institutions to provide the supplies. This also applies to junior colleges such as CBC.

It also requires they provide Fentanyl prevention education in addition to the resources. According to KXLY-TV 4 in Spokane:

“The bill specifically requires that colleges and universities have fentanyl testing strips and Narcan available on campus and that residence hall staff be trained on how to administer Narcan. “

Over the next two years, this is expected to cost the State about $15 million, however, KXLY reports that money will only go toward public institutions, such as UW, WSU, EWU, and others.

It appears, based on the language of the reports, that private schools will not receive funding,  a synopsis report of HB 2112 makes no mention of funding. Those would include such institutions as Whitworth, Whitman, Pacific Lutheran, University of Puget Sound, and others.