(a) In order for the schools to become healthy learning environments and to provide a strong defense against drug use and violence, the State Board of Education shall prescribe programs within the existing health and physical education program which teach resistance and life skills to counteract societal and peer pressure to use drugs, alcohol and tobacco, and shall include counselors, teachers and staff in full implementation of the program. The board shall also prescribe programs to coordinate violence reduction efforts in schools and between schools and their communities and to train students, teachers, counselors and staff in conflict resolution skills. The program shall be comprehensive, interdisciplinary and shall begin in elementary school.

(b) No later than the start of the 2018-2019 school year, a county board shall implement comprehensive drug awareness and prevention programs for students in grades K through 12 to receive instruction regarding the dangers of substance abuse. The purpose of the drug awareness and prevention program is to:

(1) Keep students from illegally using alcohol, tobacco or other drugs;

(2) Reduce or eliminate the incidence and prevalence of student’s alcohol, tobacco and other drug abuse;

(3) Reduce the factors that place students at risk of abusing alcohol, tobacco or other drugs through school and a community based planning processes;

(4) Contribute to the development of school environments and alternative activities that are alcohol, tobacco and drug-free;

(5) Increase the knowledge and skills of students, staff and community members for avoiding the harmful effects of alcohol, tobacco and drug use, and of blood borne pathogens;

(6) Actively involve staff, students, parents and community members in the development and implementation of the drug awareness and prevention program plans;

(7) Facilitate an understanding and appreciation of the risks to, duties of, and likely actions by law-enforcement officers when conducting investigations; and

(8) Instruct how to respond to an officer during a vehicular or other stop or police interaction, including problematic or dangerous action and behaviors that could result in a person being detained or arrested.

(c) The county board shall coordinate the delivery of instruction to meet the purposes of subsection (b) of this section with educators, drug rehabilitation specialists and law-enforcement agencies to periodically provide age appropriate student education on their experiences with the impacts of illegal alcohol and drug use.

(d) Beginning with the 2018-2019 school year, instruction required pursuant to section nine of this article in the subject of health education in any of the grades six through twelve as considered appropriate by the county board shall include at least sixty minutes of instruction for each student on the dangers of opioid use, the additive characteristics of opioids, and safer alternatives to treat pain.