Colo. Students Grieved Friend’s Fatal Overdose. Then They Fought for Statewide Change – and Won

"I think a lot of students had a moment where they were forced to look at the reality of our drug problem," student activist Hays Stritikus tells PEOPLE

• Niko Peterson and Zoe Ramsey's fight to save lives began after their friend died in 2021, just days short of his 16th birthday

• Along with other student activists, they went on to form the group Students Against Overdose — and after successfully lobbying school administrators to allow high schoolers to carry and administer naloxone and fentanyl test strips, they then did the same at the statewide level

• “Their friend died, and instead of just saying, ‘Oh, that's too bad,’ they really did something for it,' " Colorado State Rep. Barbara McLachlan tells PEOPLE

Niko Peterson and Zoe Ramsey, both recent graduates of Colorado's Animas High School in Durango, still have fond memories of a dear friend and fellow student, who died days short of his 16th birthday.

“He was the epitome of accepting,” Peterson, 18, tells PEOPLE. “It didn’t matter your skin color, age, whatever — he would be your friend. He'd care about you.” Adds Ramsey, “He was extremely hilarious...a ball of joy and light and wonder.”

Tragically, that friend (whom PEOPLE is not naming per the wishes of the victim’s family) didn’t live long enough to graduate with Zoe and Niko this year. In December 2021, he and another individual reportedly overdosed on pills laced with fentanyl, which they originally thought was Percocet. The other person survived after being given naloxone, a medication that immediately reverses an opioid overdose, but Niko and Zoe’s friend died at the scene.

Related: Teen Works to Save Lives with Org After Cousin, 18, Died from Accidental Fentanyl Overdose: 'Talk Openly'

Niko recalls his heart racing when he first heard that his friend died. “I couldn't believe it,” Niko says. “I couldn't really process what happened.”

Afterwards, Niko, Zoe and other students gathered at a house to console each other, while a number of teachers from Animas High School dropped by and offered their support. “We just kind of sat there and cried for multiple days,” says Zoe.

“We all lived together for a little bit, just being shoulders for each other to cry on," Niko adds. “It was a time where the community really did come together and show that we had the support.”

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Several months after their friend’s funeral. Zoe took a class about the War on Drugs during her junior year. For their final project, students held a forum at Animas High about harm reduction, which the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) defines as an approach to equip people who use drugs with “life-saving tools and information” to “potentially save their lives."

At the forum, Zoe says she wanted to give out Narcan, the brand name of naloxone.

“I was talking to my school about it, and they're like, ‘We want to try and support you with this. However, it is kind of a liability to allow students to carry Narcan for this, this, and this reason,' " Zoe remembers. "Obviously, I was a little annoyed about that. I was like, ‘Okay, well, can we change the policy?’ ”

Related: Former Addict and His Wife Have Prevented Hundreds of Fatal ODs by Going to Music Festivals — Here’s How (Exclusive)

Niko and Zoe heard about other students at neighboring Durango High School who were also pushing for change. Among them were twin brothers Hays and Leo Stritikus, who didn’t know Niko and Zoe’s friend, but were inspired to take action after hearing about his death. They also faced pushback from the Durango school board over liability concerns.

“Our community [in Durango] has a drug problem,” Hays, now a 20-year-old college student, tells PEOPLE. “I think a lot of students had a moment where they were forced to look at the reality of our drug problem."

According to a January report from the New England Journal of Medicine, an average of 22 students in the U.S. of high school age died from drug overdoses per week in 2022. Additionally, data from the health policy organization KFF found there were 1,177 opioid overdose deaths in Colorado in 2022, making up 65 percent of all drug overdose fatalities in the state.

The student activists from both schools then joined forces as Students Against Overdose.

For the next several months, they protested in front of the school district building, attended board meetings and garnered support from parents and medical professionals. They also obtained opioid antagonists from their local public health agency, distributed them to their fellow students and taught them how to use the medication.

“The school district argued that teachers are already prepared and had Narcan,” Niko says. “But our argument was the teachers aren’t going to be at the parties [and] the skate park [where the students are]. Teachers aren't going to be where the overdoses are actually going to happen.”

The students’ campaigning paid off and last year the Durango school board voted to approve a policy that has the district “assume the legal risk of allowing students to carry and use Narcan at school.”

“It was really a big moment for all of us, to see something that had started as an idea between friends and between peers to be adapted by our school district after so long advocating and fighting for it," says Hays.

But it didn’t stop there. Next, the student activists reached out to Colo. State Rep. Barbara McLachlan and other lawmakers to help them craft legislation permitting students across the state to have access to naloxone and fentanyl test strips. “We were like, ‘Wow, we can really actually make some change,’ ” recalls Niko. “We were doing something that we felt was right, and it just grew and grew, and grew.”

“All last summer, we dreamed up a bill we wanted to do,” adds Zoe. “I spent the school year helping write the bill. We had meetings with different school nurses associations across Colorado and school board associations. We went through at least 15 bill drafts."

Related: Two Moms Who Became 'Sisters in Grief' After Losing Kids to Fentanyl Now Fight 'For the Living' (Exclusive)

Rep. McLachlan, a retired teacher, heard about the student activists’ efforts in lobbying the Durango school board. “It was quite the argument and quite the work they had to do because it had never been done before,” she tells PEOPLE.

This year, on Feb. 8, Students Against Overdose testified in front of the Colorado General Assembly’s House Committee on Education in support of bill HB24-1003, which allows students to have and use opioid antagonists without liability, and to ensure that opioid antagonists are available in school buildings and school buses.

“It was so surreal,” Niko remembers about addressing lawmakers. “This is one of the moments like, 'Wow. We're actually making a change, and making a positive impact, and deciding that it's our turn to decide what we want to do and decide what's important.' "

The bill first passed in the Colorado House in late February, then was approved by the Colorado Senate in early April. The state’s lieutenant governor, Dianne Primavera, signed it into law on April 22 and the new legislation went into effect on Wednesday, Aug, 7.

“They were following their hearts,” McLachlan says. “Their friend died, and instead of just saying, ‘Oh, that's too bad,’ they really did something for it.”

Related: Inside Mom’s Heartbreak After 19-Year-Old Son Dies of Apparent Fentanyl Overdose: 'He Was Just a Baby'

Hays, who is entering his sophomore year at the University of Richmond, says that he hopes the first impact of the new legislation is a reduction in opioid-related deaths among high school students. “The second one is we hope that this bill can start and foster broader conversations within the education system and within communities about the reality of the opioid epidemic,” he says.

Niko and Zoe both acknowledge that the legislative victory is bittersweet. At Animas’ recent graduation ceremony, an empty seat was set aside for their late friend, which was decorated with his belongings.

“We had a moment of silence before we all started to walk,” Zoe says. “I know he's looking over us. I know he saw what me and Niko did, and I know he's proud of us. We did it to honor him. So I'm glad we did it.”

“We wanted him to graduate with us,” recalls Niko. “That felt very special. When I was walking down [at the ceremony], I kissed my hand and tapped it a couple of times just to honor him, letting him know that he's graduating with me.”

If you or someone you know is struggling with substance abuse, please contact the SAMHSA helpline at 1-800-662-HELP.

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