MONTGOMERY, Ala. – Students in Alabama will now be required to undergo drug education specifcially on the dangers of fentanyl.
Named after an Auburn teen who died in 2001, the recently enacted Price Hornsby Act will now require school districts to include “research-based instruction” related to fentanyl prevention for public school students in grades 6 through 12.
Sponsored by Rep. Joe Lovvorn, R-Auburn, House Bill 280 will commence with the beginning of the 2024 – 2025 school year. The new law instructs local school districts to develop curriculum that highlights both the physical harm and legal consequences for fentanyl use.
Hornsby, who at 17, died after taking a pill laced with fentanyl.
The new law comes after a concerted effort by state lawmakers to target fentanyl, which was named as the single-greatest drug threat for the third consecutive year in 2023 by the National Drug Control Policy. Overdoses from opioids, of which fentanyl is, have skyrocketed in Alabama in recent years.
Lovvorn spoke about the legislation on a recent episode of Capitol Journal. See his comments in the video below.