By Megan Noggle
New “Narcan Nooks” have popped up in residence halls and in major buildings around Concordia College’s campus. This addition comes as part of a Clay County initiative to lower the number of fentanyl and other opioid overdoses observed in the Fargo-Moorhead area, a reflection of the national spike in opioid use and lacings in recent years.
Narcan, the brand name for Naloxone, is a U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved, over-the-counter opioid antagonist designed to aid in the emergency situation of an opioid overdose.
Officially approved in 2023, it is the first non-prescription overdose reversal treatment for opioids available in the U.S.
According to the National Institute of Drug Abuse (NIDA), it works by attaching to the opioid receptors in the brain, temporarily reversing and blocking the effects of opioids.
It has no effect if administered on someone without opioids in their system, but doing so is not typically harmful.
Narcan does not replace emergency response, as its beneficial effects only last from 30 to 90 minutes—until the affected person can receive professional care. The nasal sprays available around campus are free for students to take whenever, even if they just want to feel prepared.
“If a student knows they’re going to go to an off campus party, and maybe they don’t know what that environment is going to be like, or they’ve heard it’s going to be a rager or whatever, they might just take it on their way out the door,” said Payette. “That’s why we strategically put them by the entrances and exits of the residence halls.
“So if you know you’re heading out to a place that you don’t know what you might expect and you just want to feel prepared, it’s an easy way to grab it on your way out from where you live.”
While Narcan also comes in an injectable form, the campus has opted for the nasal spray variant. “The nasal spray is easier to use, removes any risk of accidental needlestick injuries, is less invasive for the individual receiving naloxone, and allows for broader accessibility as it maximizes the chance a bystander will successfully use it,” said Michelle Draxten, the health promotion coordinator at Concordia.
Draxten, alongside the Center for Holistic Health (CHH), masterminded the introduction of Narcan to residence halls, townhomes, and apartments on campus through a partnership with Residence Life. She announced the development to students on Sep. 12 via mass email.
“Where students live is the most likely place that drug use would potentially happen,” Sean Payette, the director of residence life, said. “(We) didn’t imagine that overdoses would happen as often in a classroom as it would in a more home environment.”
According to Draxten, many surrounding campuses already stock Narcan, including the North Dakota State University (NDSU) and the Minnesota State University Moorhead (MSUM)—both of which are involved in the Metro College Alliance (MCA).
Narcan is a newly required resource at public colleges and universities in Minnesota, but that legislation does not extend to Concordia College, a private campus.
“It’s best practice just to have things on campus that can prevent harm to students,” said Draxten. “We felt very strongly that, as a university or college, we should also be following those standards.”
Clay County Public Health also employs Naloxone Access Points (NAPS) that offer free fentanyl test strip kits in addition to Narcan. While not offered on campus, the closest locations are the Lost and Found Recovery Center and Clay County Public Health, both located near the intersection of Main Ave and 8th St S. There is also online Narcan training provided on their website.
While there are currently no online resources for the on campus Narcan locations, the nooks are located near the entrances and exits of every traditional residence hall, as well as in the laundry rooms of the apartments and within both the single and joint townhome units. Additionally, they have been placed in the Grant Center and the Knutson Campus Center (KCC) alongside the Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs).
The CHH may also provide them upon request.
Should any of the Narcan Nooks be empty, students are encouraged to report it through a QR code displayed alongside the nook. The QR code is part of a graphic that provides basic instructions for administering Narcan nasally.
“There is a Good Samaritan Law in Minnesota where students will not be responsible if they do call 911 if they’re in the presence of an overdose,” Draxten said. “But there is no evidence that suggests that these sorts of items will increase drug use.”
