Talking With Students About Opioids

Six years ago, Micah Sawyer founded Micah’s Hugs after losing his son, Micah Jr., to a fentanyl overdose. Micah Jr. had been the captain of the Analy High School football team for two years.

“Because the people who are using drugs aren’t necessarily who you think they are,” Micah explains. His son hid his drug use throughout high school, possibly starting as early as middle school. After graduation, he worked alongside his father in construction.

“One day he didn’t show up for work, so I went looking for him,” Micah recalls. “I found him in bed at a friend’s house, and I couldn’t wake him up.” That was when Micah Jr. told his father he had been smoking heroin.

He entered both outpatient and inpatient treatment programs, but he struggled to overcome his addiction. Later, while staying at his mother’s house, Micah Jr. was found unresponsive in her garage. When first responders arrived, he was pronounced dead. He had smoked a black powder that was laced with fentanyl.

“It is impossible to explain the grief over the loss of a child,” Sawyer says.

Creating Awareness and Saving Lives

In response to their loss, Micah and his wife, Michelle, created Micah’s Hugs to raise awareness about the dangers of fentanyl and to educate communities on how overdoses can be reversed using Narcan (naloxone nasal spray). To date, Micah’s Hugs has distributed more than 38,000 doses of Narcan.

Sawyer warns that fentanyl is often found in counterfeit pills designed to look like legitimate medications. These pills are manufactured in illicit labs and frequently contain deadly amounts of fentanyl. “Over 90% of pills sold on the street contain fentanyl,” he cautions.

When speaking to students, Sawyer explains what happens during an opioid overdose. “Your body relaxes to the point where your lungs stop breathing. You become unresponsive because your brain isn’t getting enough oxygen. Blue lips and blue fingertips are warning signs.” Narcan works by blocking opioid receptors in the brain, reversing the effects of the overdose. It is administered as a nasal spray. There are no harmful side effects from Narcan, although some individuals may require multiple doses before responding.

At school presentations, Sawyer gives each student a box of Narcan and encourages them to keep it accessible. “You might say, ‘I don’t need Narcan because I don’t do drugs.’ But you don’t know when you might need it to help someone else,” he tells them. He reminds students that carrying Narcan is about being prepared to save a life.

Breaking Barriers

“Getting into schools has been one of our biggest challenges,” Sawyer says. “We know our youth are at risk, yet doors are often closed to us. Analy High School is setting an example — showing that when schools open up to overdose prevention education, they empower students to save lives.”

If your school is interested in bringing opioid and fentanyl education to your students, please fill out the form below and we will be in touch.