Fentanyl check strips save lives — however in these 10 states they’re unlawful

• The US continues to be in an overdose disaster, pushed by fentanyl, an artificial opioid cropping up in different medication.
• Fentanyl check strips can stop overdoses by detecting fentanyl in medication.
• In 10 states, these life-saving strips are unlawful.

For years America has been within the grips of an opioid epidemic — and lately, the variety of overdose deaths has grown. Each 2021 and 2022 noticed greater than 100,000 Individuals die annually from drug overdose deaths, in line with provisional information from the Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention (CDC).

Many of those deaths are due to artificial opioids like fentanyl, a drug that’s as much as 50 occasions stronger than heroin and has more and more been added to medication — akin to heroin, cocaine, and methamphetamines — to make them cheaper and extra addictive.

In lots of circumstances, individuals who overdose on fentanyl do not even know that they’re consuming it.

Overdoses might be reversed utilizing a drug referred to as naloxone, which was lately made obtainable for buy over-the-counter. 

However some overdoses might be prevented within the first place with a easy strip of paper — a software that’s unlawful in lots of US states, outlawed beneath Nineteen Seventies-era drug paraphernalia legal guidelines. 

Strips that stop overdoses — however beware the chocolate chip cookie impact

Fentanyl check strips are drug detection papers that, when dipped in medication which are blended with water, can detect the presence of fentanyl.

Hurt discount advocates say fentanyl check strips are straightforward to make use of, and assist individuals who use medication keep knowledgeable about whether or not or not there was fentanyl current within the native drug provide.

The check strips aren’t foolproof — they solely detect fentanyl within the portion of drug that’s examined, which the CDC calls “the chocolate chip cookie impact.”

Even when utilizing fentanyl check strips, individuals ought to nonetheless use medication slowly and with a accomplice to scale back the chance of a deadly overdose, in line with specialists.

The ten states the place fentanyl check strips are nonetheless unlawful: 

The legal guidelines are difficult. 

In some states, check strips are technically labeled as drug paraphernalia, however there isn’t a felony penalty for utilizing or possessing them, in line with a 2022 legislative evaluation. In different states, solely people who find themselves concerned with hurt discount or syringe companies applications are allowed to have them.

Many states are altering these practices. Utah, North Dakota, and Kansas all legalized fentanyl check strips this yr, whereas New Hampshire and Florida have laws presently pending or awaiting a governor’s signature.

The ten states the place, as of now, fentanyl check strips stay unlawful are:

• Washington
• Idaho
• Montana
• Texas
• Illinois
• Missouri
• Arkansas
• Indiana
• Florida
• New Hampshire

In case you reside in considered one of these states and need entry to fentanyl check strips, chances are you’ll discover native hurt discount teams supplying them, or you may nonetheless buy them on-line and get them shipped to you.