How prevalent are drugs in local schools? That’s the question a new pilot program underway by the state’s environment and health departments is trying to answer; but the initial results are generating even more questions than answers.
The state’s environment department collected and tested wastewater from a small collection of schools in the Albuquerque and Rio Rancho school districts to “offer insight into how much and what types of drugs have been consumed for a given population.” Scientists collected wastewater every 15 minutes over a school day and analyzed them for the presence of drugs. 88% of the first 24 public high schools tested showed signs of recent cocaine use by someone using the school’s restrooms. 30% showed recent fentanyl use.
“People consuming drugs will excrete either the drug itself or a metabolite of the drug (i.e., a different form of the drug after it breaks down in the body), which is then captured in the wastewater,” the state explained in announcing the initial results this week. “The results do not, however, indicate whether the drug consumption was illicit or used in accordance with a prescription,” they cautioned. The testing was ordered through the governor’s public health order targeting firearm deaths and drug addiction issued earlier this year.
Scientists did not report any tested substances in wastewater collected from Rio Rancho’s Cleveland High School, Independence High School or the Rio Rancho Cyber Academy. Wastewater from Rio Rancho High School tested positive for morphine.
Nearby Albuquerque Public Schools did not fare so well. Nearly all APS high schools were reported to test positive for cocaine, morphine and other substances. 5 schools were identified as testing positive for fentanyl in wastewater.
The governor’s office says it will continue testing across more schools in the new year, but they still provide heavy caution for the results already collected. “The results above provide information on the drugs and metabolites detected in the wastewater on the day that a given school was sampled,” according to information provided by the governor’s office. “The results do not represent drug use among the school population over the course of a week, month, or year. Because of this, results should be compared across schools with caution. Additionally, the wastewater samples collected for this effort capture everyone who used the restrooms on the day that the wastewater sample was collected. This includes the student population, as well faculty, staff, and visitors. Drugs detected in the wastewater cannot be attributed to a specific population within the school campus.”
State Health Secretary Patrick Allen told reporters that results should not be interpreted as just a problem for local schools. Schools are a microcosm of the larger communities they serve, he said. State Public Education Secretary Arsenio Romero said the data will be used to identify schools needing additional drug counselors and interventions though he did not provide specifics on what our how PED would require of local schools with positive results.
Despite the clean results on the testing days, local schools are definitely not free of drugs local school and police officials have previously reported. Rio Rancho police seized marijuana and illegal mushrooms from the vehicle belonging to a Rio Rancho High School student last month.