By Nasai Rivas
On Nov. 4, 2024, Jordan Mueller, 32, died.
Now his best friend, Associated Students Inc. Senator of the College of Business Quinn Bentley, is advocating for the federal, state and local government to step up the fight against opioids, accidental overdoses and fentanyl.
Bentley developed an ASI resolution, named “Jordan’s Resolution,” in honor of his friend.
The ASI Senate passed the resolution on March 5.
“It centers around four [addiction] centers around getting additional, a billion dollars in additional federal funding for programs that already exist and are already doing great work,” Bentley said.
Bentley started with the recent death of Mueller last year and Bentley’s brother, who died from heroin in 2014. He felt it was the right time to do something about this issue that has affected him and 82.7 million people.
“[Jordan] was the life of the party everywhere he went,” Bentley said. “And if this can help anybody out there, then it was worth it.”
The resolution highlights drug deaths in the United States that peaked at 111,000 people in 2023 and how young adults are the most vulnerable to drug abuse.
According to the resolution, there needs to be an increase in funding to help get more treatment options and improve drug prevention programs.
“The economic costs of untreated substance use disorders, including healthcare expenses, lost productivity and criminal justice expenditures significantly exceed the costs of investing in prevention and treatment,” the resolution states.
The resolution further said that an additional $1 billion from federal funding must be focused on supporting existing organizations and programs like Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, National Institute on Drug Abuse, Society for Prevention Research and other similar programs.
“The ASI Board of Directors supports policies that emphasize treatment over criminalization to address the root causes of substance use disorders,” the resolution notes. “We encourage public awareness campaigns to reduce stigma and promote the benefits of seeking treatment for substance use disorders.”
ASI Executive Vice President Matt Melendrez helped Bentley with the statistics and editing on Jordan’s Resolution.
“You know, it affects not just only students, but the entire country,” Melendrez said. “I’ve had family members who’ve gone through this, you know, it’s emotionally devastating.”
Melendrez said it is important to provide resources due to the uncertainty in the federal government and the Department of Health and Human Services under the new leadership.
He said the resolution advocates not only for federal help, but from the state and local communities.
“We know the fight is gonna be hard for federal change, yeah, but we know that when it trickles down to state and local, it’ll be more easier,” Melendrez said.
Students on campus should also focus on the resources Student Health Services provides, Bentley said.
SHS offers services for free to students such as quit kits, health education appointments, Narcan, fentanyl test strips, alcohol test kits, substance use counseling and referrals to community partners.
“You know, you can get to change your corner of the world before you can go help…the rest of the world,” Bentley said.
He said making the resolution and advocating for this issue was important to him because he was able to do something for a friend.
“I could make my friend’s life mean something, and that his memory would go on to help other people,” Bentley said.
