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By Madison Lee
Fifteen years ago, April Rovero experienced something no mother ever expects to face. She lost her son, Joey, at age 21, after a prescription drug-related overdose. A doctor prescribed Joey a high dosage and quantity of pain medication and, when celebrating the end of the semester at Arizona State University with his friends, the medicine mixed with some alcohol shut down his breathing as he slept in his apartment.
Instead of focusing on the tragedy of losing her son, Rovero chose to reach out and create a space to protect other teens, adults, and families. On June 2, 2010, she founded the National Coalition Against Prescription Drug Abuse (NCAPDA), a non-profit volunteer-based organization to prevent prescription drug misuse and abuse that can lead to addiction and overdose deaths.
Over the last 15 years, Rovero has traveled to schools across the Bay Area to share Joey’s story with students to demonstrate the impact overdose deaths and addiction have on family and friends.
“What we hope to accomplish is to educate young people and adults,” Rovero said. “Through education, young people will be less inclined to take a pill from a friend or go shopping for medication that they think they may want to experiment with, either recreationally or self treatment.”
A huge step forward came with Assembly Bill 2429, which passed on July 2, 2024, and requires all California public schools to include instruction on the dangers of fentanyl use and the effects of the drug on the human body.
Rovero’s presentations and curriculum meets the teaching requirements. One of NCAPDA’s current goals is to present this curriculum and other findings to the state education department to push this education to other districts in California.
Some schools provide naloxone kits for students to save the lives of a friend or family member, but not all schools have those resources.
“My dream is that every school has naloxone in every classroom, every teacher has it, and there is a distribution location for students to go get the naloxone,” Rivero said.
As a result of her work, Rovero and her team have been able to save thousands of lives. NCAPDA has been able to distribute 8,000-10,000 naloxone overdose reversal kits, and they have received many reports of reversals. They have educated around 2,000 students every year over the last 15 years and have talked to many adults in every age group, presenting in business communities and hosting virtual trainings.
Any individual can help stop this crisis, and it starts with protecting themselves. By making good decisions and understanding potential impacts, individuals can ensure their safety.
To help spread awareness of the important dangers of prescription drug misuse and abuse, NCAPDA encourages students to join their clubs. They also offer internships to high school students around the Bay Area by volunteering in many different opportunities, from building naloxone kits to presenting at youth conferences.
Students interested in an internship can email info@ncapda.org for more information and an application form.
This article was written as part of a program to educate youth and others about Alameda County’s opioid crisis, prevention and treatment options. The program is funded by the Alameda County Behavioral Health Department and the grant is administered by Three Valleys Community Foundation.
