TOPEKA, Kan. (KNS) – A Kansas House committee has advanced a plan to legalize fentanyl test strips. The proposal is wrapped into a bill that would also create a state board to look for ways to prevent drug overdose deaths. The test strips can be used to detect whether other drugs are laced with the deadly opioid fentanyl.
Currently, the strips are considered drug paraphernalia and are illegal. Aonya Barnett of Safe Streets Wichita says the strips are cheap and effective. But being illegal makes it hard to get strips to the people who need them. “We have to be willing to think outside the box and consider non-traditional interventions to save lives,” she said.
Brandy Harris, of Hutchinson, says her son Sebastian died from taking pills he thought were painkillers but were actually fentanyl. She says test strips could have saved his life. “We need to be able to learn from those mistakes and grow from those mistakes,” she said. ” But Sebastian is never ever going to get that chance.”
Lawmakers pushed to legalize the test strips last year. But Republican senators blocked the bill over fears it would encourage drug use. Supporters of the legislation say the test strips will help curb a spike in fentanyl overdose deaths. Efforts to legalize the fentanyl test strips have previously failed in Kansas.
