There are 19 naloxone access points on the University of Minnesota – Twin Cities campus, sponsored by Boynton Health and its partners. Most students walk by them without even realizing they are there.
Mounted in residence halls, stocked outside Boynton Health and handed out at trainings hosted by Steve Rummler HOPE Network, these life-saving medications sit in plain sight, waiting for the moment someone needs them fast.
The access points are part of a broader push to treat naloxone on campus. Despite overdose deaths declining nationally — fentanyl continues to be involved in the vast majority of deaths in Hennepin County. County prevention strategists, harm reduction workers and University health staff are working together to ensure preparedness prevents tragedy.
Why preparedness still matters
Nationally, more than 105,000 people in the U.S. died from a drug-involved overdose in 2023, and about 76% of those deaths involved opioids, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That number has declined significantly, with recent reports showing a 24% decline in overall drug overdose deaths.
The drop has been widely welcomed, but experts say there is still a lot of work left to keep numbers low.
In Hennepin County, there were 264 opioid related deaths in 2024 and fentanyl was involved in more than 91% of deaths. Experts like Julie Bauch, Hennepin County senior strategist for opioid response, cautioned against reading the decline as an endpoint.
“While we like to celebrate that decrease, we’re hesitant in our celebration,” Bauch said. “The decrease hasn’t brought us below fentanyl levels, so what we’re seeing is as long as fentanyl is in our community, and it is the opioid that is circulating and driving our opioid crisis, we’re fighting a battle with very high overdose-related deaths.”
Bauch said educating the population about this risk and focusing on prevention is critical in avoiding spikes in opioid related deaths.
Megan Thomas, a harm reduction coordinator with the county, said the mechanism that drives the data trend is instability in the drugs people are consuming.
“The drug supply is constantly evolving, so it’s hard to say at any given time exactly what is on the streets,” Thomas said. “We’re dealing with something very different now than we were in 2005, and so I think we’re just experiencing the toxicity of fentanyl.”
Thomas added fentanyl’s toxicity and other adulterants in the supply can complicate overdose reversals and raise risk for people who may not expect opioid exposure. She added social environments can shape risk, especially after hours.
“There is an abundance of resources Monday through Friday, 8 to 5 p.m., and then significantly less in the evenings and weekends,” Thomas said. When emergencies happen, prevention leaders argue preparedness comes down to minutes and whether naloxone is close by and people know what to do.”
In that context, overdose prevention leaders say naloxone access on campus functions less as a response to widespread opioid use and more as emergency readiness in an opioid and contamination environment, where overdose risk can be shaped by counterfeit pills, unknown additives, and polysubstance use (the mixing of substances like alcohol with opioids).
Trends on campus
An overdose happens when someone takes more of a drug than their body can handle. This causes all vital functions, like breathing, to start failing.
Opioids, including prescription painkillers and illicit opioids like heroin and fentanyl, shut down the brain’s drive to breathe. Naloxone (often known by the brand Narcan) is a medication that can rapidly reverse an opioid overdose by blocking opioids’ effects, temporarily restoring breathing.
The Steve Rummler HOPE Network (SRHN), a Boynton Health partner organization, started in 2011 after founder Steve Rummler died from an opioid overdose. What began as a memorial effort has since grown into one of Minnesota’s leading overdose prevention nonprofits, focused on naloxone distribution and training all over Minnesota, including on college campuses like the University of Minnesota.
Allie Carey, the director of programs at SRHN, said their partnership with Boynton Health became formal around 2022 and has expanded in the past year beyond health-focused audiences.
“We’ve partnered with Boynton Health since around 2022, and this year we’ve expanded training with student groups,” Carey said.
Carey added SRHN has collaborated with groups like HERO and the Psychedelic Society of Minnesota.
In 2025, Carey said the SRHN trained 870 people through the University, informing hundreds of students, staff and community members about the life-saving medicine.
Though the organization hopes to expand its network, Carey said there are barriers that limit their reach.
“It’s very easy to distance yourself from topics like this that are harder to talk about,” Carey said. “It’s a lot easier to say, I don’t use substances, I don’t know anyone who uses substances, even though we know that’s not always the case.”
Carey added stigma remains one of the biggest reasons people do not seek training or carry naloxone.
Meghan Walsh, the overdose prevention director at the Steve Rummler HOPE Network, said training is designed to make students feel prepared before an emergency happens.
“The point of emergency preparedness is that I hope you don’t have to use it, but knowing what to do in an emergency is so much better than not knowing,” Walsh said.
Boynton’s response
Cassandra Worner, a Boynton Health promotion specialist involved in naloxone access efforts, said the University’s focus is preparedness, making sure naloxone is easy to find and easy to use in an emergency, even if opioid misuse is rare among students.
“There is no opioid epidemic on campus. There is no challenge in overdose survival odds specific to our campus population. According to our College Student Health Survey 2024 data, less than 1% of U of M-Twin Cities students have ever used opioids that were not prescribed to them,” Worner said.
Still, county data showed overdose deaths have occurred in neighborhoods where many students live.
According to Hennepin County’s dashboard, there were 65 opioid-related deaths from 2012–2024 in areas including Prospect Park, Stadium Village, Como and Marcy-Holmes. Seven of these deaths occurred in 2024.
Worner said naloxone access still serves a purpose, even if opioid misuse is rare among students. Distributing more than 1,200 kits since March 2025, she said this initiative ensures students can respond in an emergency and equips them with a tool that may matter beyond campus boundaries.
Support for such initiatives has been largely supported by the University, as Worner said significant funding has been placed to keep the free access available.
“The U of M MN Minnesota Substance Use and Community Health Lab has used the grant funding provided to them to fund all of our naloxone access,” Worner said. “We recently expanded from 6 sites to 19 sites, and all of our partners have been incredibly supportive both in interest and in restocking the sites located at their locations.”
Looking ahead
Fentanyl has blurred the line between opioid users and people who might be exposed. County officials and harm reduction workers described fentanyl contamination in drugs beyond opioids, including pressed pills and powders.
The message they repeat to young adults is to be cautious of what they put in their bodies.
“If it didn’t come from a pharmacy, you don’t really know what’s in it, even if it’s a stamped pill or it came from someone you trust,” Thomas said. “Drug use is never one hundred percent safe, but there are ways to reduce risk.”
Carey said emergency preparedness and educating people about their rights can be the difference between life and death.
“Not enough people know about the protections that our state has around things like medical scenarios. For overdose specifically, we have what’s called a Good Samaritan law, specifically because of what happened with Steve Rummler,” Carey said. “He did not overdose alone, he overdosed with somebody. And that person, fearing for their own safety, freedom, well-being, was forced to make the impossible decision of do I call 9-1-1 or do I flee the scene?”
Thomas said fear and lack of knowledge of protections can impact overdose risks. She said there is a need to simplify legal language and educate regular citizens so they are better aware of their protections, to avoid fatalities like Steve Rummler’s.
“Far too many people have had to make that impossible decision and that just shouldn’t be a situation that people get put in,” Thomas said. “It’s super important to have people with lived experience in educating peers and educating the public and giving people the information in terms that they can understand and interpret.”
