On Aug. 29, the Eugene Police Street Crimes Unit interrupted a transaction and arrested both a suspected fentanyl dealer and buyer in a neighborhood near the University of Oregon campus.
The arrest came amid a broader pattern of fentanyl use near campus. Since August, there has been an increase in fentanyl-related overdose deaths in Eugene.
According to a press release on the city of Eugene website, 43 grams of fentanyl were sold and the dealer had additional grams of fentanyl on his person. Both individuals possessed evidence of additional narcotics distribution, including scales and pay-owe sheets.
Alexis Drakatos, assistant director of substance misuse and prevention at UO, said that the closer instances of fentanyl sale and overdose happen to campus, the more concerning it is for students that are part of the Eugene community.
“No matter whether it happens next to campus or if it’s in the community as a whole, it’s something we’re going to take seriously just knowing the impact it has had on some students,” Drakatos said.
Drakatos said that an important part of the prevention program is the peer education team.
“I think that students learn best from each other,” she said. “We have a staff there to support students and provide some supervision, but we feel it’s really important to have students helping with that because you all are on the ground with each other, and you have a pulse of what’s going on.”
Drakatos said that peer education works because student educators are able to know what’s happening on and around campus and see what their peers are experiencing all while having their own experiences as a student.
“It’s something we value in prevention, the student voice,” Drakatos said. “We can make sure we’re providing the best resources possible that students want and need. We want to make sure anything we’re doing meets this current student need.”
Drakatos said that in general, there has been a rise in student concern about fentanyl in the last couple of years. Regarding fentanyl specifically, Drakatos said that UO wants to educate students on common myths about fentanyl, spread awareness on social media if overdoses occur near campus and increase awareness on where to get resources like testing strips.
“We’ve really tried to increase resources specific on how to access Narcan,” Drakatos said. “So educating on where folks can get it if that’s going to the pharmacy, or accessing places they can get it for free.”
Narcan or Naloxone can treat a narcotic overdose in an emergency.
According to Fentanyl Aware Lane County’s website, youth aged 16-29 can get access to Narcan from Community Outreach Through Radical Empowerment, an organization that advocates for young people in Lane County. Families in Eugene can contact the HIV Alliance about obtaining Narcan.
Drakatos said that UO Prevention has been partnered with the HIV Alliance for several years. They are able to visit campus and offer training throughout the school year, and typically these trainings are able to send students home with a free dose of Narcan.
“Should [students] encounter an overdose, we want to make sure that they have the means necessary to approach that, and the education to approach that as well,” Drakatos said.
Students looking for more information are encouraged to look at UO’s Substance Abuse Prevention page, the Substance Abuse Prevention and Education Instagram page and the Collegiate Recovery Center. All of these resources provide information to students not only about fentanyl, but other substances as well.

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An injection Naloxone kit. This kit includes a dose of nasal Narcan, instructions on giving Narcan, a CPR face shield, syringes, two doses of injection Naloxone and an information card about Oregon's Good Samaritan Law. (Courtesy of Rebecca Noad and HIV Alliance)