Senators Introduce Bipartisan Bill to Prevent Fentanyl Deaths With Testing Strips

Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) speaks to the media in Mission, Texas, on March 26, 2021. Joe Raedle/Getty Images

A handful of U.S. senators have introduced legislation to increase access to fentanyl testing strips in an effort to prevent poisoning deaths from the powerful opioid.

The proposal, known as the Fentanyl Safe Testing and Overdose Act, would amend the Controlled Substances Act to decriminalize the possession and use of testing strips, which are currently classified as drug paraphernalia.

The measure was authored by Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), whose state has seen a significant increase in fentanyl-related deaths in recent years.

The bipartisan legislation is co-sponsored by Republican Sens. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) and Bill Cassidy (R-La.), along with Democrat Sens. Chris Coons (D-Del.) and Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.).

“Fentanyl is ravaging Texas communities, and poisonings among children and teenagers have skyrocketed in recent years given the rise in fake prescription pills containing this deadly drug,” Mr. Cornyn said in a joint statement.

“This legislation would help prevent deaths due to fentanyl poisoning by giving people the tools to identify it, and I urge my colleagues to pass it without delay.”

Roundtable Discussion

Earlier this year, Mr. Cornyn was part of a roundtable discussion in Hays County, Texas, to bring awareness to the fentanyl crisis. He joined local law enforcement, Hays County school district leadership, and parents whose children died from accidental fentanyl poisonings.

“Listening to parents who’ve got these young, teenage kids with a lot of potential and full of life—just lose them to this drug—is heartbreaking,” Mr. Cornyn told The Texas Tribune. “And it’s gotten me so passionate about trying to do something.”

The school district lost five students to the illicit drug over a six-month period.

Fentanyl test strips in a container and Narcan at The Legionnaire bar in Oakland, Calif., on March 3, 2022. Nathan Frandino/Reuters

Janel Rodriguez’s 15-year-old son, Noah Rodriguez, was one of the five students who died after taking a fake pill that contained fentanyl. Noah died on Aug. 22, 2022, just a few days after he started his sophomore year.

“Senator Cornyn’s bipartisan fentanyl test strip is a major step in the right direction when it comes to preventing fentanyl-related deaths in the United States,” Ms. Rodriguez told The Epoch Times in an email.

During the Texas legislative session, lawmakers unanimously approved House Bill 362 to decriminalize fentanyl testing strips, but the measure never made it to Gov. Greg Abbott’s desk (pdf).

“Texas has seen a dramatic increase in fentanyl-related poisonings in the last 12 months, and legalizing testing strips is an important component of a multi-faceted approach to reducing and eliminating the dangers posed by fentanyl,” Ms. Rodriguez, who founded Forever15Project to bring awareness about the dangers of fentanyl, said.

A billboard in Kyle, Texas, features three Hays CISD students who died from fentanyl poisonings in July and August of 2022. Courtesy of Forever15Project.org

From 2020 to 2021, fentanyl-related deaths in Texas nearly doubled year over year, with 891 and 1,645, respectively. And in 2022, there were 2,161 deaths in the state attributed to the synthetic opioid, which is 50 times more powerful than heroin and 100 times stronger than morphine.

“By taking action on the federal level, states will no longer have to wait on politicians who are reluctant to pass needed harm reduction legislation,” Ms. Rodriguez said.

A lethal dose of fentanyl—two milligrams—is equal to about 10 to 15 grains of table salt, according to the Texas Department of Health and Human Services. One kilogram, or about 2.2 pounds, is enough to kill 500,000 people, according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.

“To date, [in fiscal] 2023, CBP has seized more than 22,000 pounds of fentanyl—compared with 8,300 pounds over the same period in FY 2022,” the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol said in a statement last month. The fiscal year runs from Oct. 1 through Sept 30.

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration found that 6 out of 10 illicit pills contain a lethal dose of fentanyl. A lethal dose is 2 mg, about the amount on the tip of this pencil. Courtesy DEA

National Crisis

The fentanyl crisis isn’t limited to the southern border state.

“Over 100,000 Americans died from drug deaths last year, many after ingesting fentanyl. This legislation will help prevent overdoses by making it easier for medical clinics and individuals to rapidly test illegal drugs to find out if they have fentanyl in them,” Mr. Cotton said.

The testing strips won’t prevent illegal drugs from coming across the border, but the bipartisan group of lawmakers maintains that they are a tool to help save lives.

“This alone will not solve the drug crisis we face, but it will help prevent overdoses by people who didn’t realize fentanyl was in the drugs they took,” Mr. Cotton continued.

Critics argue that the reclassification of the testing strips could encourage drug use, but Mr. Cornyn told The Texas Tribune that the legislation is part of a “multi-pronged approach” that begins at the Texas border.

“Because once the fentanyl gets across the border, then we’ve basically lost the battle,” Mr. Cornyn said.

Fake pills are laced with fatal doses of fentanyl that look identical to prescription drugs such as Percocet, Vicodin, Xanax, or other drugs. Illicit drugs can be purchased easily through social media apps.

“The fentanyl crisis has been exacerbated by the fact that, too often, those harmed by this deadly substance do not even realize they are ingesting it,” Ms. Klobuchar said.

In 2018, Rhode Island became the first state to formally decriminalize the testing strips. At least 20 other states, including Ohio, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, and South Dakota, have followed the move in an effort to help prevent opioid overdoses.

Mr. Cornyn and Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) also filed bipartisan legislation dubbed Preventing the Financing of Illegal Synthetic Drugs Act to “stifle organizations that traffic synthetic drugs like fentanyl into the United States,” the senators announced in July.