Bill to expand Fentanyl awareness in schools nears finish line

House Bill 1484, aimed at expanding fentanyl awareness and prevention education in Oklahoma schools, is one vote away from becoming law.

Rain’s Law, authored by Oklahoma State Senator Darrell Weaver, was introduced after 19-year-old Rain Reece overdosed on an Xanax laced with fentanyl.

“I got a call the next day that they found her dead in bed, with her schoolwork still open on her computer and her dog beside her. And I’m like, what happened? Like, there’s just no way. I just talked to her,” said Karla Carlock, Reece’s mother.

Reece attended Cameron University, and Carlock said she suffered from depression.

Reece called her mother on a Friday night, saying she was struggling and wanted to get back into counseling and on medication.

“I said, okay, Rain, I’ll call on Monday when they open and see if we can get you in. And I told her, I said, you know, and God loves you and has big plans for your life,” said Carlock.

May 27, 2023, would be the last time Carlock would speak with her daughter.

Sen. Darrell Weaver said this is something that happens all too often.

“They may be thinking they’re just taking an Xanax or some type of, or the most mild opioid, but now they just don’t wake up because it’s been laced with this high-powered fentanyl,” added Weaver.

If passed, Rain’s Law would require school districts to educate students in grades 6-12 on fentanyl abuse.
It would cover topics such as:

• Prevention of abuse
• Addiction to fentanyl
• Awareness of local school and community resources
• Suicide prevention
• Information related to health and substance abuse.

“This bill, quite frankly, is just not overwhelming. It’s just saying, let’s get this education component in the schools so we can start our young people thinking about this and have an understanding the risks that they’re taking,” said Weaver.

In 2023, he said there were about 700 deaths due to fentanyl overdoses.

Weaver served in the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics for almost three decades and adds that most often people are not aware that they are taking something laced that could cost them their life.

In a press release Sen. Weaver put out last year, he said fentanyl, a synthetic opioid, is 50 times stronger than heroin and up to 100 times stronger than morphine.

Rain’s Law has gone through the Education committee, which was the first step. It now sits on the floor of the Senate and is in need of one vote.