NM Environment Department releases results after testing wastewater for drugs at high schools

The New Mexico Environment Department released the results after testing wastewater for drugs at the 24 public high schools in Albuquerque and Rio Rancho Wednesday.

Twenty-one of the 24 schools tested positive for cocaine and/or its byproduct, and 17 tested positive for fentanyl and/or its byproduct.

Cleveland High School, Rio Rancho High School, Independence High School, Rio Rancho Cyber Academy and 20 other high schools were tested for the following:

• Opioids (and metabolites), including heroin, 6-acetylmorphine (a metabolite that is only created when someone uses heroin), fentanyl, norfentanyl (a metabolite that is only created when someone uses fentanyl), oxycodone, oxymorphone, hydrocodone, hydromorphone, Codeine, morphine and methadone.

• Stimulants (and metabolites), including methamphetamine, amphetamine, cocaine and benzoylecgonine (a metabolite that is only created when someone uses cocaine)

Rio Rancho High School tested positive for morphine.

Cleveland and RRHS tested positive for amphetamine and cocaine, Independence tested positive for cocaine and the Cyber Academy tested positive for amphetamine.

“Here’s the bottom line — schools are not separate from the communities they are a part of. The presence of drugs in the home, in our communities and the state inevitably extends into the schools,” Dr. Sue Cleveland, superintendent of Rio Rancho Public Schools, said. “Effectively addressing the issue within schools requires a comprehensive approach that includes cleaning up the streets and implementing stricter penalties for those introducing drugs into the community and educational institutions.

“The main drugs we see in our schools, that were not tested for, are marijuana and alcohol. This is a problem and an area where we see little to no help from our state and juvenile justice systems. When students know they can bring marijuana or alcohol into our schools with little consequence beyond the school, they know they can bring other drugs into the school.”

For the testing process, crews opened sewer manholes outside schools to collect wastewater every 15 minutes, sending the samples to a lab for analysis.

The results provide information on the drugs and metabolites detected in the wastewater on the day that a given school was sampled. 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 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 officials did not outline any concrete plans to utilize the test results, which are being gathered statewide as part of Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s health order targeting gun violence.

“We are frustrated with what appears to be a lax response from certain entities responsible for addressing the drug issue at large. While schools make significant efforts — employing measures like working with law enforcement to bring in drug dogs and imposing strict consequences (to the extent allowed) for offenders on campus — it is imperative for our state and juvenile justice systems to take a more proactive role in enforcing punishments that unequivocally reflect zero tolerance for drugs within schools. This collective effort is essential to creating a safer and drug-free educational environment,” Cleveland said. “We also need additional resources to help support students who are facing significant addiction issues. The scarcity of available treatment options for these students compounds the issue. Families are desperate for resources. For the few treatment options available, various roadblocks hinder families from accessing the help they require — financial constraints, inadequate insurance coverage, program non-acceptance of certain insurances, extensive wait lists and more. Furthermore, school districts lack the necessary resources to employ the personnel required to offer vital support.

“Finally, we have concerns about the accuracy of the testing protocol, particularly when detecting cocaine and amphetamine use. The reliance on benzoylecgonine as the indicator for cocaine use raises questions, given that ethanol, a component of e-cigarettes prevalent in school environments, also contains benzoylecgonine. Perhaps, the recurring issue with ethanol in schools adds a layer of complexity to the testing process. In addition, Adderall and Ritalin, common medications used by students, are amphetamines. Issues like these have us questioning the validity or hoping for further understanding of the methods used to test the samples and the state’s level of confidence in the results.”