TULSA, OKLA (KTUL) — Oklahoma students in grades six through 12 will now be required to learn about the dangers of fentanyl, under a new law signed by Gov. Kevin Stitt on Feb. 26.
House Bill 1484, known as Rain’s Law, requires schools to teach fentanyl abuse prevention and drug poisoning awareness. The law also directs the Oklahoma State Department of Education to develop curriculum standards and resources. The requirements will take effect immediately, and schools will begin developing and rolling out the lessons.
“So, we started working on legislation to educate children, and someone brought up the idea of it being Rain’s Law because she wanted to be a teacher, and it’s just like, wow, okay, this is amazing,” Carlock said. “She is going to be teaching just not the way I wanted her to,” Carlock said.
“You know, I dealt with fentanyl and when it first started coming out as the director of the bureau, and now we’re dealing with it policy wise in the state senate. And this is a very important measure. And you know, fentanyl is 50 times stronger than heroin, and if you think about it’s very unforgiving,” Weaver said.
The new education requirement comes as other families continue to advocate for additional fentanyl-related policies. Jacob Towe, who lost his 3-year-old son, Leo, to fentanyl, is pushing for Leo’s Law, which would ensure the Department of Human Services includes mandatory fentanyl testing in child welfare cases.
“I’ve been trying to work with the group, Family Supporting Families. They travel around, they go to schools, they do events in Tulsa, they help the community. And they really just try to share with people, because we lost our angels to fentanyl. So we try to share with people the dangers of fentanyl and just one pill can kill. A lot of people don’t understand fentanyl,” Towe said.
Gov. Kevin Stitt also made Rains birthday October 2nd, Fentanyl Awareness Day.
