LOUISVILLE, Ky. — There are two days left for Kentucky’s General Assembly to change state law and several organizations are hoping a bill to decriminalize fentanyl test strips makes it through.
The Kentucky Harm Reduction Coalition has been distributing the tests through the mail and via mobile outreach through federal funds that state officials say allow for the purchase of the strips.
“It started as a pilot program through our Kentucky Opioid Response Effort funding and from 2021 in the fall to now, we have provided communities across Kentucky, we’re well in the thousands, over the thousands,” said Shreeta Waldon, executive director for KyHRC.
House Bill 353 would clarify that fentanyl test strips are not considered drug paraphernalia.
KyHRC and other organizations are pushing for the bill’s passage.
“If we move forward and we’re able to accomplish this goal united here in Kentucky, we can help other institutions, other treatment programs throughout the different counties in Kentucky feel comfortable enough that they aren’t causing an unintentional harm to their participants, their clients, their patients, by providing them with fentanyl test strips,” said Waldon.
Waldon called the strips a “poison control tool” empowering people to make informed decisions about the substances they’re using.
“Our goal is not to tell people what to do with it,” she said. “It’s to tell them this is what’s going on. Now, these are the options. This is what you can do.”
The legislation also requires the state to conduct a fentanyl education and awareness campaign.
People who use fentanyl test strips and harm reduction services should be a part of that campaign, said Waldon.
The bill passed the House unanimously this month and is awaiting consideration in the Senate.