Texas Group Aims to Teach Students About Fentanyl

After a record-breaking year of overdoses in 2022, fed-up citizens are beginning to worry about the safety of their children and drug use.

“It’s a war. We’re in a war, and people don’t realize it,” Jennifer Stevens, an education and political consultant from Austin, Texas, told Newsmax.

Stevens, who said she is passionate about the issue, is making significant progress in raising awareness about fentanyl dangers. As the leader of Texas Against Fentanyl, a group looking to protect children from the drug, she and founder Stefanie Turner were able to get a state law passed. Known as “Tucker’s Law,” it mandates teaching the dangers of fentanyl to children.

The organization’s work to protect kids against fentanyl can be seen on its website. The homepage features photographs of young victims of the substance.

The fentanyl awareness agenda also includes naloxone training, hoping to teach kids how to administer the livesaving substance to overdose victims. The curriculum, a brainchild of Stevens, will be taught to Texas students in grades six through 12.

Stevens found the motivation to take action after a close friend lost her son to fentanyl. She refers to this initiative and agenda as “The Tucker Project,” for the victim’s family.

Families victimized by the drug “don’t have a voice in schools,” Stevens believes, because “schools don’t let them in.” She theorized that schools are worried about their local reputations, thus preventing victims’ voices from being heard.

The Tucker Project will ensure there is one day each year that schools make the connection between their core subjects and fentanyl. For example, in mathematics, stats regarding the drug will be taught, while in social studies classes, they will be taught its social impact.

Stevens labeled the idea a “cross-curricular approach,” intertwining school subjects with fentanyl awareness. The curriculum also includes 360 minutes per year of current event connections to fentanyl.

Along with Stevens, former Alabama state Rep. Perry Hooper is looking to push the curriculum nationwide. Both cited multiple times the bipartisan nature of the issue.

Stevens told us she would “love to get it mandated in every state.” She added her concern that some states may not see this as bipartisan, as the “Texas stigma” follows her around. She calls the Texas stigma the idea that other states believe those from Texas are extreme in their beliefs and culture.

However, she did get Tucker’s Law passed in Texas with no opposition, even getting help from Democrats, such as state Sen. Jose Menendez from Texas’ 26th District. She complimented him when talking to Newsmax, saying, “Sen. Menendez was great to work with.”

Stevens told Newsmax that Florida has expressed interest to move quickly on the issue. First lady Casey DeSantis has reached out to Stevens about the issue.

Stevens also mentioned that many fentanyl deaths are not from frequent opioid users, as just about anything bought off the street can be laced with fentanyl.

Citing children’s access to social media, she told Newsmax: “You can go on social media and buy anything.” She believes this stems from the current border crisis, with the cartel being an issue.

She also blames China, stating, “The U.S. is too soft on China and the cartel.”

Stevens and Hooper will continue to push for nationwide adoption of The Tucker Project.

“We must be proactive, not reactive,” said Hooper. “We’ve got to jump on this with both feet.”

Christopher Savino is a rising senior at Rutgers University and a summer intern at Newsmax’s Washington, D.C. bureau.