On Sept. 21, two students at the University of Mississippi, Aidan Hamilton and Robert Strang, passed away from suspected drug overdoses. No words can touch the horror of these students’ accidental deaths. No outpouring of emotion can frankly face the disturbing reality of parents outliving their children. Nevertheless, we hold our hearts in profound empathy for the friends, families, classmates and teachers of these students.
There has been no confirmation of what drugs were involved in the Ole Miss overdoses. Kratom, a plant-based drug which is marketed for purposes as varied as stimulation and sleep, was found during both investigations. Equally concerning, rumors that cychlorphine — a synthetic opioid several times stronger than fentanyl — was involved have proliferated across social media, despite zero confirmed evidence. The combination of these realities at Ole Miss — unsafe drug use leading to overdose and death, coupled with specious social media speculation — represents a microcosm that we must be cognizant of at our University, where drug use is common and drug education is not sufficiently provided. It is a much-maligned component of society that institutional change is often a response to morbid tragedy — still, the University must improve its education, communications and culture around drugs to prevent a similar tragedy from occurring here at our institution.
Undoubtedly, the University does provide some resources around drug usage for its community. The Collegiate Recovering Program hosts REVIVE! trainings for opioid overdose and naloxone education every semester. There are myriad recovery and counseling programs offered, from Hoos In Recovery to Counseling and Psychological Services. The University frequently highlights a policy of medical amnesty that protects both substance-taking students and observers reporting an overdose. However, it is concerningly consistent that all of these University-provided resources place the burden of action on students — an impractical onus when the weight of addiction, the force of social cohesion and the reality of in-the-moment substance curiosity are likely to prevent many students from initiating an education in substance use and intervention.
For other health concerns, by contrast, the University has taken up the mantle of action more vigorously. With regard to alcohol, for example, all first-year, transfer and new graduate students must take Alivetek inc.’s Alcohol Module before the start of the year — a combination of this mandatory course and constant messaging when on Grounds has embedded the PUBS acronym and its guidance into many students’ minds. These technology-based preventative programs help to reduce substance use, and other institutions like the University of Oregon offer courses for drug use, a program our University should likewise introduce. Similarly, the University could mandate courses that give guidance on bystander intervention and emergency health involvement in drug use cases — the University Police Department already offers seminars on these topics by request, and requiring these courses would seem a sensible expansion. These courses could also be introduced into Fraternal Organization Agreements — key principles of mutual benefit agreed between the University and Greek Life organizations — to strengthen critical education for at-risk social groups. By developing and prescribing informational drug courses, the University can elevate the level of drug education offered to students, thereby reducing the risk of uninformed substance use and ensuring that student bystanders take deliberate actions should an emergency arise.
Yet structured, static courses are not sufficient when considering a topic as disturbingly dynamic as illicit substance use. The White House’s drug policy office issued its first national public health notice for cychlorphine April 30 — thus, rarely updated courses that provide generalized substance guidance are outdated and unhelpful for dealing with a drug that does not show up on fentanyl test strips and is thought to require several doses of naloxone, should a tragic overdose occur. In line with the need for real-time updates, the U.Va. Health Blue Ridge Poison Center issued a warning Sept. 29 for orphines like cychlorphine, proving that the University has the capacity to help students become aware of drug changes. However, this program wields the same pitfall as other University programs mentioned — it places the onus of education on the students. While students should endeavor to keep updated on the deluge of dangerous drug developments — and social organizations such as Greek Life should instruct their Risk Managers to be apprised of these changes — it is critical that the University ensure the Poison Center updates are disseminated consistently and directly across the student body.
To be clear, no student at our University should be judged or disparaged for taking drugs, whether it be recreationally or as a matter of addiction. Neither do we seek to castigate the usage of these substances by students and members of social groups such as in Greek Life — to do so would be both ineffective and imply a sense of smug moral superiority. Nevertheless, it is inarguable that every institution and person should try to reduce the risk involved in substance use. To this end, the University must ensure that dormitory halls are stocked with naloxone and that Resident Advisors are trained to use it, and the Inter-Fraternity and Inter-Sorority Councils should ensure the same for Greek houses. Poison Center updates could also be disseminated to students in dormitory halls and Greek organizations as a way of ensuring timely and educative knowledge among students. Further, it is imperative that all students understand the signs of an overdose and the steps to take in an emergency health situation, as well as the importance of monitoring the behavior of those taking substances. Strang’s Ole Miss roommates were aware that he had taken Xanax on the day he overdosed and that he used nitrous oxide regularly — while they should feel no culpability for his death, the notion that tracking a friend’s health may be lifesaving must be ever-present in every student’s mind.
On Aug. 31, 2013, second-year University student Shelley Goldsmith took an MDMA pill with members of her sorority and a fraternity on a bus ride up to a concert in Washington, D.C. Shelley became overheated later in the evening and passed away that night. The thought of this tragedy is excruciating, as are the tragedies of Hamilton and Strang and countless other victims of substance use — but our mourning and compassion are hollow feelings without action to prevent the heartbreaking cycle of overdose and loss from continuing. It must be an imperative for all of us — for the University, for school organizations and for students — to engage in responsible behavior and minimize the chance of another tragedy at our University. No one else will do it for us.
The Cavalier Daily Editorial Board is composed of the Executive Editor, the Editor-in-Chief, the two Opinion Editors, the two Senior Associates and an Opinion Columnist. The board can be reached at eb@cavalierdaily.com.
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