Missouri Expands School Wastewater Drug Testing Program Statewide

Jefferson City, Mo. (KFMO) - Missouri's school wastewater drug-testing program is moving from a voluntary pilot effort to a statewide initiative after lawmakers approved legislation making participation mandatory.

The program is administered through the Missouri Department of Public Safety and is expected to begin sampling in mid-September.

Mike O’Connell, Communications Director for the Department of Public Safety, says about 40 schools participated in the pilot program. The state expects to expand testing to about 150 schools this year.

“The legislature passed legislation now that says that this is going to be mandatory. The contractor, they are out mapping the sewage systems for schools around the state. We think they’ll be able to get to 150 schools this year.”

Under the program, wastewater samples are analyzed for fentanyl and other illegal drugs. State officials say the testing is intended to identify drug-use trends within school populations and provide districts with information that can be used to support prevention and education efforts.

The first year of testing detected nitazenes, a class of highly potent synthetic opioids that have become a concern for public health and law enforcement officials.

O’Connell said the substances were found in a number of school districts participating in the program.

"We found nitazines, which are a specialized, highly lethal type of fentanyl. They’re considered very dangerous, and that wound up being found in a lot of school districts around the state.”

The statewide program will not test every school simultaneously. Instead, districts will be selected from rural, suburban and urban areas as the state works toward broader coverage.

“This will be divided up across the state to get rural, suburban, urban, and then those results are shared with the districts. They’re testing for cocaine, methamphetamine, fentanyl.”

Officials say the wastewater testing results will be posted online and shared with participating school districts.

Sampling is expected to begin in mid-September, marking the next phase of Missouri's effort to track illegal drug trends among school populations.