PLEASE SIGN YOUR AGENCY ON IN SUPPORT OF THIS CRITICAL BILL!
What is Louie's Law?
Directs the Illinois State Board of Education to improve its current K-12 drug education recommendations for public schools and communities by creating comprehensive, reality-based, safety-focused, and evidence-based guidelines that span the prevention continuum, reduce substance use risk factors and promote protective factors. Strategies will:
- Be age, grade, and culturally appropriate, involve parents, caregivers, teachers, healthcare providers, and community members, and represent diverse demographic groups.
- Incorporate risk mitigation and harm reduction information for high school students, such as abstinence, responding to an overdose using naloxone and fentanyl test strips, and resources for coping with stress, trauma, substance use, and other risky behaviors in non-punitive ways to help oneself or others.
- Address adverse childhood experiences, i.e., witnessing and experiencing violence, abuse, caregiver loss, and other traumas, especially among young people of color.
- Ensure that ISBE and IDHS/SUPR comply with all aspects of the IL School Code Section 22-81.
Background:
Overdose continues to kill thousands of Illinoisans annually and is the most common way to die accidentally, surpassing gun violence, suicide, and car crashes. Overdose and substance use is only expected to increase as long as trauma, mental health and other co-occurring challenges go unmet with care. To stem the tide of this devastating epidemic, the state must prioritize a comprehensive strategy that includes youth prevention education.
According to the Substance Use and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), nearly 60% of youth use drugs in the last month (excluding caffeine) and recommend evidence-based prevention strategies and support to ensure our youth and community members stay safe. And according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 15% of teens have tried an illicit drug at least once. Current state recommendations and guidelines are not sourced from studies that reflect Illinois’ diverse populations, leaving out Black and Brown youth experiencing trauma at heightened levels. Adolescents are experiencing physical, social, and emotional development, and therefore are more likely to take risks, be influenced by their peers, and experiment with illicit substances. According to the State of Illinois Overdose Action Plan from March 2022, youth who engage in non-medical use of prescription opioids and heroin use have poor school adjustment, worsened mental health, high rates of polysubstance use, and are more likely to experience violence and victimization.
While strategies to abate youth drug use go beyond the classroom, current K-12 drug education guidelines do not provide youth, parents, caregivers, teachers, or communities with the facts, information, skills, and programs they need to prevent use, prevent overdose, stay safe, and access supportive services.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1h0tD-CTXCMRS2vH9oDg2Uc_Z9mKA37RRrfDiQnWJOQM/edit?usp=sharing
View the bill's FAQ sheet here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1nGpQZGhwMDrpRZ1Hulvc8IkR0B-s_PKv3iGrS1olXwY/edit?usp=sharing
View the bill's fact sheet here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/15zeZ0FktCK2IospbH55Owg_VUGhmpGN4/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=108331510125210417753&rtpof=true&sd=true
We invite your organization to sign on in support of Louie's Law today!
For more information or questions, please contact Kyra Jagodzinski at kyra@clbstrategies.com.
