This week, Representatives Lou Correa (D-CA) and Monica De La Cruz (R-TX) introduced the bipartisan Saving Lives on Campuses Act of 2024, a bill requiring public colleges and universities to provide opioid overdose rescue kits, including Narcan (naloxone), to help address the deadly rise in opioid-related deaths among young adults.

“Here in Orange County and across the country, our communities are being faced with an opioid epidemic that has cost our neighbors the lives of too many they love,” Correa said. “And make no mistake: This surge in fentanyl-related deaths is disproportionately impacting young people on our campuses and universities nationwide. This legislation will ensure that our students and their teachers are equipped with the tools they need to respond effectively to this crisis and save lives in real-time—and I’m honored to work alongside Congresswoman De La Cruz to help get this effort across the finish line.”

“Fentanyl is the number one killer of Americans aged 18 to 45,” De La Cruz said. “The tragic surge in fentanyl-related deaths, up by over 600% in Texas from 2019 to 2023 alone, has claimed more than 7,000 lives in our state. The Saving Lives on Campuses Act of 2024 will help ensure that students and staff are equipped to respond effectively to this crisis and prevent further loss of life.”

You can read the full text of the legislation HERE.

ABOUT LOU: Congressman Lou Correa is a longtime Orange County resident, with deep local roots. To this day, he lives only three miles from his childhood neighborhood in Anaheim. He is the son of working-class parents whose hard work gave him a chance at success and has spent his career fighting to protect the American Dream and ensure anyone can reach the middle class, just as he did. In 2016, Lou was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives to continue his work by representing the community he has spent the past 20 years serving, fighting to give everyone access to the same opportunity he had. Congressman Correa is committed to working across party lines to strengthen the middle class and give everyone a shot at the American Dream by investing in education, healthcare, and our fading infrastructure, and has introduced legislation to protect the legal rights of immigrants, care for veterans, and fight against the wasteful spending of taxpayer money.