Call for test strips to help drug addicts
John Curran THE Government has been urged to make Fentanyl test strips available to drug addicts using needle exchange services.
Fianna Fail’s John Curran highlighted the issue after the emerging trend of the opioid being used to lace street drugs.
It has been a factor in a number of accidental overdoses and can be used as a recreational narcotic.
Mr Curran said: “In 2016 the Health Service Executive issued an alert about Fentanyl after it was found to be implicated in five overdose deaths in Dublin and Cork.
“Two years on Dr Chris Luke, specialist in emergency medicine in Cork University Hospital, has warned of an emerging epidemic.”