AUCKLAND, Calif., April 20 (Reuters) – Entering the craft beer bar in Auckland, California, Alison Heller looks like any other patron, longing for a happy hour.
But instead of heading to the bar, she goes straight to the bathroom, opens her backpack, and pulls out a plastic bag with fentanyl test strips. She puts 25 strips in a jar that anyone can take for free.
“If you’re going to use drugs here, you can test them,” said Heller, co-founder of the nonprofit non-profit organization FentCheck.
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Drug test strips for the presence of the deadly synthetic opioid are becoming more common in bars, restaurants and bars as the country struggles with the opioid epidemic and the growing number of deaths. Read more
Fentanyl flooded the streets of the United States and contributed to nearly 500,000 opioid overdose deaths in the United States over two decades, with the COVID-19 pandemic worsening the situation. Fentanyl, which is 100 times more potent than morphine, causes effects similar to other opioids, such as sedation, drowsiness and nausea. Overdose can cause respiratory failure leading to death.
Fentanyl overdose is now the leading cause of death among 18-45-year-olds in the United States, surpassing suicides, car accidents and COVID, according to an analysis by federal data from the opioid awareness organization Families Against Fentanyl.
To prevent such deaths, Heller, FentCheck co-founder Dean Shold and a team of volunteers regularly visit a network of companies in Auckland, San Francisco, New York and Philadelphia to replenish test strips.
“We ended up with dead children. We ended up with accidental overdoses. We also serve people who are struggling with drug addiction,” Heller said. “They can’t get to rehabilitation, they can’t get to the next step in their sobriety if they die that night.
FentCheck connects the tapes from the Canadian company BTNX to simple instructions for users to test their drugs. The results are displayed – as a pregnancy test or COVID-19 – with lines showing positive or negative.
“They’re cheap, super easy to use and read, and give you a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ that you can then use,” said Dr. Kathleen Clannon, Alameda County Medical Director, who supports the distribution of test strips. for fentanyl and funding.
Patron walks near a table with free fentanyl and Narcan test strips at the Low Bar in Oakland, California, USA, March 3, 2022. REUTERS / Nathan Frandino
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“They are very sensitive, which means that the comparison tests have shown that they are likely to show fentanyl, if there is one, and I feel comfortable with that as a community test.”
Melissa Myers, owner of Good Hop, called it “pointless” to offer the tapes to her clients and train her staff to use naloxone, a drug that quickly reverses the effects of opioid overdoses.
“We fought to stay alive through COVID and I want them to be able to keep coming here, not dying on the street or dying at home because they decided to try some new drugs,” Myers said.
Some cities have gone even further in the fight against drug overdoses. One of the first controlled drug injection sites in the country opened in New York last year, allowing users to inject drugs under the supervision of trained personnel. Read more
Critics say the tapes allow drug users. Some countries treat them as illicit drugs. Legislation to decriminalize bands is under way in Alabama, Florida and Tennessee, among others.
Dr. Joey Hensley, a U.S. senator and physician who runs a private practice in Tennessee, voted against the bill there.
“I just don’t think it’s a good policy to make drugs easier for people addicted to drugs,” he said.
Hensley doubts that providing fentanyl test strips would affect the behavior of drug users. “If there are studies that show otherwise, I might change, but I just didn’t think it was a good policy,” he said.
Jason Ludzik, owner of The Legionnaire, where test strips stand at the bar, said lawmakers must face the facts.
“If you’re really interested in your constituents and if you’re really looking at the data that your health departments throw out there, and you really care about an iota, grow up,” he said.
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Report by Nathan Frandino; Writing by Richard Chang; Edited by Lisa Shoemaker
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