The University of California's student government wants every campus to have a collegiate recovery program, which offers support groups and other tools to help students battle addiction.

Presently, half of the campuses have them.

The university system estimates that the existing programs served 4,000 students last year.

A 2023 national survey indicates that 1.6% of UC undergraduates are in some form of drug or alcohol recovery.

The University of California Student Association, which represents the system's 233,000 undergraduates, is mounting a campaign to bring the program and university funding to every campus.

After almost a year of advocacy, the student organization brought the program to the UC Regents meeting in July.

Ryan King, a spokesperson for the UC Office of the President, wrote that "Each campus sets priorities within its budget and must balance competing priorities."

He added that the system is exploring additional funding through the California Youth Behavioral Health Initiative and the recently passed Proposition 1.

The university office of the president maintains that every campus has some kind of drug prevention intervention and treatment program.

The main focus of the college recovery program is to build community on campus as well as harm reduction.

The approach is meant to appeal to more students who aren't ready to fully abstain from all substances but need help quitting or dialing back from a substance that's personally destructive.

Some like the one at UC Davis distribute fentanyl test strips and NARCAN.

An overdose-reversing nasal spray for free.

Stephanie Lake, a drug counselor and the CRP coordinator at UC Davis's College Recovery Program said, "The fentanyl crisis and everything else is a scary time for me as a counselor.

Having the Collegiate Recovery Program is just su.. super important.

For CalMatters, I'm Robert Meeks.

Reporting by Mikhail Zinshteyn.