SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WAND) — Illinois state representatives will soon vote on a plan to provide new materials for K-12 schools to teach about overdose and substance use prevention.
Sponsors hope the bill could improve drug education standards to help students understand current and projected substance use and overdose trends. It also calls for education of the history of drugs and health policy in Illinois and the United States, the impact of zero tolerance, and restorative justice practices.Â
"This bill addresses the heroin and opioid addiction epidemic," said Rep. Joyce Mason (D-Gurnee). "As you know, it is an epidemic and deaths are increasing exponentially and more so because we're seeing things laced with fentanyl and individuals who maybe try a drug the very first time risk death."
The Illinois State Board of Education would be required to collaborate with the Department of Human Services, Department of Child and Family Services, Department of Public Health, and the Illinois Opioid Crisis Response Advisory Council to improve the health education standards by July 1, 2024.
Democrats filed the proposal in memory of Louie Miceli who died from an overdose in 2012. Felicia Miceli, Louie's mother, said Wednesday that young people are becoming addicted to drugs because they haven't properly learned about healthy coping mechanisms, the truth about drugs, or the potential risks. Miceli now works as a grief counselor helping families going through the same traumatic experience she did.
"Once a month, there's new families walking in with that look on their face due to their children dying from overdoses with fentanyl and xylazine in them and again saying, 'I wish my child was properly education. I wish that I was properly educated,'" Miceli explained.
She told the House School Curriculum & Policies Committee that Louie would be an advocate for comprehensive drug education if he was still alive today.
Felicia Miceli talks about the importance of proper education for substance use prevention during an Illinois House committee hearing on April 26, 2023.
High school students could have the opportunity to learn how to recognize an overdose, use fentanyl test strips, and administer naloxone. The legislation is also non-punitive, as advocates explained punitive drug policies contribute to the stigma against people with addiction.Â
"Sometimes in drug education, we've taken an approach that focuses on punishment and the potential punishments that you may face for possessing drugs," said Eli Brottman, a political consultant with CLB Strategies. "This clearly has not deterred use. What it has done though is stigmatize use and made people who may want to seek help or need to seek help less likely to do so."
This plan passed unanimously out of the committee and now heads to the House floor for a full vote. If approved, Senate Bill 2233 will move to Gov. JB Pritzker's desk for his signature of approval.
"Louie just didn't know, and neither did I," Miceli added. "It's our job to teach our youth the truth."
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