Fentanyl, its analogs, and the opioid tramadol accounted for nearly 70% of overdose fatalities in 2024, underscoring the importance of naloxone education and opioid emergency preparedness.
According to several health organizations, opioid misuse and dependency is the among young adults ages 18 to 25, yet of American college students know how to administer life-saving opioid reversal naloxone medications.
Zac Clark is the co-founder of Release Recovery and a former participant on the television show “The Bachelorette.” He is also 15 years sober from his own battle with addiction.
He is traveling the country telling his story and using his platform to speak about opioid emergency preparedness on campus and demonstrating the simple “Lay, Spray, Stay” method using NARCAN Nasal Spray.
Last week, he was in Blacksburg and shared his story with students, faculty and staff at Virginia Tech.
He pointed to the fact that less than 15% of college students know how to administer life-saving naloxone, which is the active ingredient in NARCAN Nasal Spray, and competes with opioids to bind with the same receptors in the brain, reversing the effects of an opioid overdose in two to three minutes. According to Clark, carrying NARCAN Nasal Spray can make all the difference in an opioid emergency.
He hopes it can be made more readily available. During a tour of Virginia Tech fraternity and sorority houses earlier in the day, he saw locations where NARCAN is available.
“I was happy to see that,” he said.
“Lay, Spray, Stay” is a simple, three-step method to quickly administer naloxone (Narcan) in a suspected opioid overdose, helping to reverse life-threatening effects until emergency help arrives.
Clark demonstrated those steps during his speech in Burris Hall.
The Release Recovery Foundation is a behavioral health and addiction recovery organization based in New York and Texas, which offers individualized treatment, transitional living, family support and programs and was founded in 2017. Clark’s goal is to help as many people experience the gift of recovery that he was granted.
Clark appeared on the show, Season 16 of the Bachelorette in 2020, and now has become an advocate for mental health and addiction recovery. He is honest about his own struggles and travels the country, speaking to individuals about the struggles facing our young population.
He spent years battling severe addiction, in his own words, to alcohol, crack and heroin. The turning point, he said, came after he received a diagnosis in 2007 of a brain tumor and what followed, setting the stage for what would turn his life upside down.
As a result of the surgery, Clark was introduced to pain medication and drugs. His own life had its share of cocaine and heroin.
“This time (college) is supposed to be the greatest time of your life. But we also know there will be experimentation with drugs and alcohol,” he said.
Clark said he got introduced to Adderall during his time in college. That eventually turned into the harder drugs.
He is now 15 years sober. He took the time in Blacksburg to talk directly to some of those students going through the same stage in their lives.
The recent deaths of two Ole Miss college students have brought the attention to a product called Kratom, which was discovered at both scenes, prompting drug-related investigations.
Kratom is a leafy plant native to Southeast Asia, that has found popularity in the United States due to its psychoactive properties. Its leaves can be prepared and consumed as a tea, capsule, tonic or pressed tablet, which are sold at convenience stores and gas stations.
Kratom overdoses are treated as opioid overdoses. The toxicology report on the two Ole Miss deaths has not yet been released.
Clark recently told reporters accidental opioid overdose continues to be a leading cause of death in the US.
“Breaking down the stigma around words like ‘heroin’ helps normalize the following: Asking for help. Recovery. Open conversations in the community around substance abuse and mental health. Getting drugs like Narcan (the overdose reversal medication) into every home,” he said.
For more information on Clark and his foundation, go to: www.releaserecoveryfoundation.org.
