Pa. auditor general: Save lives fast by legalizing fentanyl test strips

The General Assembly should legalize fentanyl test strips, which allow drug users to determine whether the deadly narcotic is present in substances, state Auditor General Eugene DePasquale said upon unveiling a report Wednesday.

“Unfortunately, fentanyl test strips are currently illegal in Pennsylvania because they are considered drug paraphernalia,” he said. “That needs to change, and the General Assembly has the power to make that happen.”

Users can put a small amount of a drug into water, dip in a fentanyl test strip, and then tell by the color whether the narcotic is present. If it is, they can decide whether to use or discard the drug. The strips do not reveal potency.

The auditor general called on the state Legislature to “immediately pass this measure, get it to the governor’s desk so he can sign it, and we can begin to save lives immediately.”

Legislation to decriminalize the test strips was introduced in both the state House and Senate in August, and referred to each chamber’s Judiciary Committee.

“It has bipartisan support,” said Rep. James Struzzi, R-Indiana, prime sponsor of the House measure, declining to predict when it might be put up to a vote.

He said he understands that some people might object to a measure that could make drug use safer, and thus more palatable, though he hasn’t been confronted with that sentiment.

“I certainly don’t condone drug use by any means,” he said. “People are going to use drugs either way. At least we can keep them alive and get them into treatment and get them back into normal lives without addiction.”

The auditor general’s 16-page report — called A Deadly Dose: Fentanyl’s Impact in Pennsylvania — includes some estimates of the powerful narcotic’s financial impact. It cites a federal estimate that fentanyl costs the Pennsylvania economy $25 billion, notes that $178 million in Medicaid-covered inpatient hospitalizations related to opioids in 2017, and references the 77,000 children in the care of people other than their parents due to the epidemic.

The state saw a 45% jump in HIV diagnoses among injection drug users from 2014 to 2018, according to the report.

The Drug Enforcement Administration this month released a final statewide total of 4,491 overdose deaths last year, down 18% from the record high set in 2017. After surging

for years, southwestern Pennsylvania drug deaths dropped 40% last year, from the record toll of 1,427 in 2017.

The DEA noted that 70% of overdoses involved fentanyl, often in combination with other drugs.

“Often it is mixed into street drugs such as heroin, cocaine and meth, without the user’s knowledge,” Mr. DePasquale said. Fentanyl test strips would allow users of those drugs to rule out accidental fentanyl poisoning.

The report said that the Philadelphia Department of Public Health is already distributing test strips to some young people. Prevention Point Pittsburgh has also distributed the strips locally.

Prevention Point Pittsburgh pays around $1 per fentanyl test strip, and has distributed them since 2017, for free. In the first year of distribution, roughly twothirds of those who received the strips and reported on it said their drug use behavior had changed as a result of the strips, according to Alice Bell, the North Oakland organization’s overdose prevention project coordinator.

In the past 12 months, Prevention Point Pittsburgh has given out 2,000 strips.

The auditor general’s report also recommended that the state repay student, home and auto loans for people who enter the fields of addiction medicine, behavioral health science and nursing.

It cites law enforcement claims — disputed by many experts — that first responders can be sickened by casual exposure to fentanyl. “I am not a medical doctor, so I don’t know whether that is accurate or not,” but law enforcement officials believe it, Mr. DePasquale said.

“Opiate abuse is tearing up the very fabric of many parts of Pennsylvania and obviously all over the country,” said Mr. DePasquale. He said he lost a cousin to fentanyl and other drugs.

People who use the lightrail system should continue to receive free rides between Downtown and the North Shore through March 2021.

An authority committee Thursday recommended extending the free-ride agreement for an additional year with the Stadium Authority, which will pay the transit agency $265,000 for the service. The Stadium Authority already approved the extension, and the Port Authority board will vote Oct. 25.

The agencies have a fiveyear agreement now, but the Port Authority wanted an extension while it reviews its fare structure and policies.

Earlier this year, the authority approved similar extensions of deals with the University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon University.