Youth opioid overdoses on the rise as schools struggle to fight the epidemic

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Maryland county schools stocking up on Narcan as fentanyl overdoses surge

Fox News chief Washington correspondent Mike Emanuel reports on surging fentanyl overdoses among young people, prompting schools in Maryland to stock up on Narcan.

Landen Hausman was a smart, athletic 16-year-old who took a fentanyl-laced Percocet pill and died on his bathroom floor last year. 

His parents were left shocked and devastated as their son became yet another statistic in the rapidly increasing rate of youth opioid overdoses in one Maryland county. 

"You know, people ask me all the time, kind of what's my view about fentanyl," Marc Hausman, the teen's father, said to Fox News.  

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"And the best way I can describe it is, it's really a destroyer of worlds."

The Hausmans live in affluent Montgomery County, Maryland, just outside Washington, D.C., where opioid overdoses saw a 78% increase between 2021 and 2022, according to police data.

Landen Hausman, a 16-year-old sophomore, died of a fentanyl overdose in January 2022. Fentanyl is "really a destroyer of worlds," his father, Marc Hausman, told Fox News.  (Courtesy Hausman family)

Hausman said his son struggled with anxiety and depression and had a history of alcohol and marijuana use. 

He said that the teen went to a rehab clinic to address these issues. Marc Hausman said he did a "wellness check" every night with his son to make sure he was on a good path. 

"We were not oblivious. We honestly thought he was on a good path."

He and his wife, Hilary, decided the upcoming basketball season would give their son a good opportunity to have structure and a healthy social environment. 

"My wife and I were tuned into what was going on with him," said Hausman. "We were not oblivious. We honestly thought he was on a good path." 

He said the night before his son died, he spoke with him about an upcoming basketball game and spring break plans. 

With 10 minutes of taking a single fentanyl-laced Percocet pill that he'd bought from a drug dealer, a 16-year-old teenager in Maryland was dead. (U.S. Customs and Border Protection)

Hausman later learned that about 15 minutes after that conversation, his son went upstairs to his bathroom and took the Percocet pill he had bought from a drug dealer. 

Within 10 minutes, he was dead.

"We didn't see dramatic warning signs. There were things — decision-making that was flawed — and things that we were concerned about, but not a decision that I thought would end up with us losing him and him being dead," said Hausman.

Public health and school officials in Montgomery County are focused on prevention and life-saving training to help address the crisis. 

Public health and school officials in Montgomery County are focused on prevention and life-saving training to help address the crisis. The district has hosted several family forums on fentanyl, which includes an overview of prevention tools like Narcan, a nasal spray that can help save someone experiencing an opioid overdose. 

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"We've just all been made more aware of what fentanyl has brought to the opioid epidemic in terms of its lethality and just the really severe impact it's having in our schools," said Anne Eversley, a MCPS community health nurse.

Narcan is a nasal spray that can help save someone experiencing an opioid overdose. Montgomery County Public Schools have had Narcan on their campuses since the 2018-2019 school year. (Fox News)

Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) have had Narcan on all campuses since the 2018-2019 school year. 

School officials tell Fox News they've used Narcan 11 times this academic year, including just last month when a student had a medical emergency at a high school in Silver Spring. 

The student was revived in the ambulance with Narcan.

Maryland isn't the only place struggling to combat youth opioid overdoses. Earlier this month, Los Angeles Unified schools announced plans to update their policy to allow students to carry the spray with them, according to a recent LA Times report. 

Landen Hausman and his dad, Marc Hausman, at home in Maryland. (Courtesy Hausman family)

In Minnesota, lawmakers are looking to pass a law requiring schools to have Narcan. And in Oregon, lawmakers are looking to increase access at businesses and allow teachers to administer it without parental consent. 

‘It would have absolutely made a difference’

In their son's case, Hausman says Narcan might have made the difference. 

"If we had found Landen sooner, and we had access to Narcan, it would have absolutely made a difference. And maybe he would have been here with us," he said. 

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"But just as luck would have had it, you know, we didn't find him [for] hours later. We didn't have access to that emergency response."

"We didn't have access to that emergency response."

The 24-year-old dealer who sold Landen Hausman the Percocet pills has since been indicted on distributing fentanyl resulting in the death of a minor. 

He connected with the teen on social media — and sold him the two fentanyl-laced pills. 

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The teenager only took one before he died.

Marc Hausman now speaks to students and parents about the dangers of buying these drugs in the hopes that his loss can help others. 

He said that he focuses on the power of choice. 

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"If kids think, 'Wow, OK, I'm making this risky choice, and if something goes wrong here, you know, am I basically sentencing my family to a lifetime of sadness and regret' — maybe that thought would help [them] make a smart choice at that moment."