Wastewater Testing Shows Opioids, Stimulants from SFPS Schools

In mid-December, the state environment department launched a wastewater testing dashboard to share the results of sampling at public high schools across the state. The initiative, the state says, follows Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s declaration in September of substance abuse as a public health emergency. The first round of results announced last month sampled 24 schools in Rio Rancho and Albuquerque, of which 88% tested positive for cocaine or its metabolite; 29% tested positive for fentanyl or its metabolite; and 92% tested positive for methamphetamine or its metabolite.

Health Secretary Patrick Allen noted at the time the initiative—which the Wall Street Journal says appears to the first of its kind in the US—turned up no heroin, making it “clear that prevention efforts work.”

Now, results from four Santa Fe schools are in: Santa Fe High, Capital High, Mandela and Academy for Technology and Classics. Neither Mandela nor Santa Fe High’s results showed any opioids in the wastewater results. Both the Academy and Capital did (morphine and codeine, respectively). All four schools had stimulants detected in the wastewater: methamphetamine, amphetamine, cocaine and benzoylecgonine at Santa Fe High and Capital; all of those except cocaine at the Academy; and cocaine and amphetamines at Mandela. Statewide, cocaine and its metabolites are the most prevalent drugs, according to the wastewater dashboard.

The SFPS testing results—from specific dates in November and December, depending on which school—do not include amounts and do not distinguish between student, faculty and campus visitors.

As such, “it’s information that we can continue to use to really try to to educate our students, but I think it’s also a clear direct reflection of the community,” Santa Fe Public Schools Superintendent Hilario “Larry” Chavez tells SFR. He says the district learned of the results when contacted by SFR for comment on them.

“We’re going to use this site-specific information to help inform…administration staff,” he says, but notes accurately that “even though the testing samples were taken from our wastewater,” the data doesn’t mean those drugs were taken on campus. Indeed, the dashboard notes that the data does not “tell us how many people used the drug, the amount of drug that was consumed, or if the use was illicit,” as some of the drugs have forms also found in prescription medications. That being said, he notes, “I would be surprised to find a high school, especially a large high school, that doesn’t have some kind of positive results.”

A state environment department spokesman tells SFR via email the wastewater testing results are intended to “inform harm reduction at every level of government and support schools, families, non-profits, community leaders, and other key stakeholders in implementing effective strategies to curb the destructive impacts of illicit substances throughout New Mexico.” He says the state “is working with schools and community partners to evaluate the data and take action to implement regional and statewide solutions,” although Chavez tells SFR the district has not yet heard from anyone at the state about the district’s results. SFPS has a variety of its own substance-abuse prevention programs, and also partners with several organizations.