Try and decriminalize fentanyl testing strips in Texas may stall within the Senate for a 3rd time

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Fentanyl check strips are among the many most cost-effective and best methods to stop overdoses, however a number of makes an attempt to legalize them — even with Gov. Greg Abbott’s assist prior to now — have failed within the Senate.

This 12 months, laws to legalize these check strips faces related challenges.

“I think that there’s a different stream of thought that feels like if you give an inch, you give a mile, and that any sort of lessening of prohibition stance is sort of giving up and giving over to drug use,” mentioned Katharine Neill Harris, a drug coverage fellow at Rice College’s Baker Institute for Public Coverage.

Home Invoice 1644, by state Rep. Tom Oliverson, R-Cypress, would take away testing strips for fentanyl and xylazine, a veterinary sedative also called “tranq,” from the listing of banned drug paraphernalia. This invoice handed unanimously within the Home final month and is now pending within the Senate.

Fentanyl, a potent drug generally blended with different substances and has induced the deaths of greater than 7,000 Texans within the final six years, is odorless and tasteless, making detection practically unimaginable with out specialised tools.

For this reason Oliverson known as fentanyl testing strips a “mine detector” for an individual making an attempt to stroll throughout a minefield.

The price of fentanyl check strips can vary from $10 to $30 for a field of 30. To make use of the strips, testers dissolve a small quantity of a drug in water after which dip the strip into it. One line signifies fentanyl is current, and two traces point out a unfavourable consequence.

That is the second legislative session in a row that Oliverson has tried to get his invoice handed. Each occasions, his laws didn’t get a committee listening to within the Senate. With lower than 4 weeks left within the legislative session, his invoice this session hasn’t but been thought of within the Senate Legal Justice Committee.

Oliverson, in his speech from the Home ground, recommended that Senate lawmakers worry that legalizing the strips would imply that individuals would begin “using drugs to their heart’s content safely.”

“I want every person in Texas who is struggling with addiction to get the help they need. But I can’t fix that if they are dead,” Oliverson advised lawmakers final month when his invoice handed.

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who oversees the Senate, didn’t return a request for remark nor did the felony justice committee chair, Sen. Pete Flores, R-Pleasanton. Sen. Joan Huffman, R-Houston, credited by drug coverage advocates final legislative session for blocking fentanyl testing strips from a listening to, didn’t touch upon whether or not she helps legalization.

“The structural nature of the Senate, where the lieutenant governor has the power to decide whether a bill gets a hearing or not, can be quite a big hurdle,” Harris mentioned.

Travis County Decide Andy Brown mentioned the delay in legalizing fentanyl testing strips is simply costing lives with every passing 12 months.

“Our fight against the number one cause of accidental death in Travis County is hampered by the fact that we haven’t legalized fentanyl test strips in Texas,” Brown mentioned.

Benefits of fentanyl strips

Early final 12 months, a rash of over 70 overdoses rocked Travis County in a span of three days, killing greater than 9 folks. Nonetheless, extra deaths may have occurred if the county and the state hadn’t made efforts to get overdose reversal medication like Narcan and naloxone to most people final legislative session.

To fight the rising variety of fentanyl overdose deaths in Texas, state lawmakers in 2023 launched a $10 million fentanyl consciousness marketing campaign and plan to distribute doses of Narcan to each county within the state.

“I also get the sense that publicity campaigns that we have done and that the state has done have helped get the education out there, too,” Brown mentioned.

Brown mentioned Travis County, regardless of the harrowing encounter final 12 months, noticed a decline in fentanyl associated deaths, dropping by 36%, from 279 in 2023 to 179 in 2024.

Throughout this identical interval, deaths from fentanyl overdose statewide dropped 14%, to five,070 in 2024.

“We don’t know yet if this is a long-term decline. Certainly, it’s an encouraging development that we hope to see continue,” Harris mentioned, declaring that 87,000 deaths are nonetheless quite a bit.

A dip doesn’t imply an entire decline because the drug market is unpredictable. For this reason drug coverage advocates and others are clamoring for the legalization of drug testing strips, that are cheaper to inventory than Narcan and might preserve somebody from utilizing fentanyl within the first place.

In December 2022, Abbott introduced his assist for fentanyl testing strips as he believed the opioid disaster had gone too far. Makes an attempt to contact Abbott to see if he nonetheless helps testing strips weren’t returned. Abbott didn’t reply to a request for touch upon whether or not he nonetheless helps legalization.

“I think we would reduce the number of deaths that we’re seeing in the state of Texas if we just made test strips legal,” Brown mentioned.

Unsure future

Maggie Luna, govt director of the Texas Hurt Discount Alliance, an Austin-based nonprofit that does outreach and operates a drop-in middle for individuals who would possibly want Narcan, condoms, bandages, and extra, has seen firsthand the demand for fentanyl testing strips.

Their group can’t legally purchase testing strips however accepts exams donated to them from different states.

“People are always asking for fentanyl testing strips and xylazine test strips,” Luna mentioned.

The Texas Hurt Discount Alliance has been on the front-lines of this battle in opposition to drug-related deaths, reversing greater than 300 overdoses in 2024 alone with Narcan, Luna mentioned.

If fentanyl use continues, Luna is anxious about it worsening due to federal funding cuts to substance abuse packages, Texas lawmakers’ try and ban intoxicating substances like hemp and kratom, and the financial downturn, which notoriously results in spikes in drug utilization.

“We are going to start seeing people seeking drugs at the same time we are clawing back the money that we have for tools to keep people alive,” Luna mentioned. “We are heading to a period of death.”

Luna mentioned legalizing check strips permits organizations like hers, which face an unsure future, an inexpensive possibility to avoid wasting lives.

“Every overdose can be reversed if we are applying the right education and giving out the correct tools,” Luna mentioned.

Disclosure: Rice College and Rice College’s Baker Institute for Public Coverage have been monetary supporters of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan information group that’s funded partly by donations from members, foundations and company sponsors. Monetary supporters play no function within the Tribune’s journalism. Discover a full listing of them right here.

Texans looking for assist for substance use can name the Substance Abuse and Psychological Well being Companies Administration’s free assist line at 800-662-4357. They’ll additionally entry providers of their area via the Texas Well being and Human Companies web site.

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