USF “recently” added Narcan, an emergency medication that reverses an opioid overdose, to its residence halls, complying with a year-old regulation.

Narcan is formally known as Naloxone. The nasal spray form of the drug is now available in clear boxes in campus dorm buildings.

The addition to USF dorms comes in the middle of an opioid overdose epidemic. Over 80,000 people died from an overdose between September 2023 and September 2024, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The addition of Narcan in dorms complies with the Emergency Opioid Antagonists in University Housing regulation, Board of Governors Regulation 14.011, which was adopted in January 2024. 

The related law and regulation require state universities to make “emergency opioid antagonists” available in campus housing.

USF added two bottles of nasal spray Narcan to dorm buildings in breakable clear boxes at the beginning of this year. 

A student died from an opioid overdose in a USF Tampa dorm in February 2024 — just a month after the regulation went into effect.

Related: Four charged with fentanyl distribution after USF student’s deadly overdose – The Oracle 

Khary Rigg, an associate professor in USF’s Department of Mental Health Law & Policy, said drugs are being laced with opioids, including Fentanyl, which contributes to the state of the epidemic. 

But Narcan is saving tens of thousands of lives.

“It’s pretty radical, where people basically were on the verge of death, you give them the spray, and they will sort of just snap out of the overdose,” Rigg said.

He said Narcan essentially kicks the opioid off brain receptors.

Related: USF student pronounced dead at Endeavor hall, police say – The Oracle 

Narcan is more effective the sooner it is administered, which is why adding doses of the opioid overdose treatment to dorms will help, he said. That way, someone in the building can administer the Narcan before first responders get to the scene. 

“Minutes can be, sometimes, a difference between life and death,” he said.

While the regulation passed over a year ago, USF spokesperson Althea Johnson said the law did not clarify a timeline for when the medication had to be added to dorms.

A Florida State University spokesperson said Narcan has been available in its dorms since June 2023, and it has distributed over 2,500 kits to its campus community. The University of Central Florida offers free Narcan to its students and staff by request, according to its website.

Johnson said University Police “already had opioid antagonists as part of their response protocol and in their possession across the entire campus well before the state law or the BOG regulation concerning residential housing went into effect.”

The USF St. Pete spokesperson said all three campuses now have Narcan included in its residence halls. 

Johnson said the cost of adding Narcan to dorms was covered by the Housing and Residential Education budget but did not say how much the project cost. The Housing and Residential Education spokesperson also would not say how much it cost. 

Rigg said each dose of Narcan can cost around $30-$40, but advised students to have it on hand, especially if they are using drugs. 

Related: USF researchers face uncertainty over NIH grant reductions – The Oracle 

Rigg said Narcan is an overdose treatment, but clarified it cannot be used to treat an opioid addiction. He said Narcan only works to treat opioid overdoses and will not be effective on other overdoses unrelated to opioids. 

Because students may be hesitant to call authorities when someone is overdosing, Rigg said having the nasal spray accessible in dorms will allow them to save a life despite hesitating to call 911.

He said the nasal spray form of the drug is just as effective as the autoinjection version. He also said he thinks people will be more likely to use the nasal spray.

Rigg said he was glad to see USF add Narcan to its residence halls. 

He said adding Narcan to buildings can sometimes be viewed as an admission that drug use is going on, but having Narcan is a good thing.

“We don’t need to be embarrassed about it,” Rigg said. “We know that it happens. We want to keep people safe, so having Narcan on hand is a good public health strategy to keep people safe who use drugs.”