NICK GOSNELL
Hutch Post
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Democratic State Rep. Jason Probst has been working to get fentanyl testing strips decriminalized for a few years now, and the work is almost done.
"It's on the Governor's desk right now and we're just waiting for her signature," Probst said. "I was really happy to see that through. It got put into a bigger crime bundle to kind of help get it across the line, but after several years of work and a couple of colleagues on the other side of the aisle that really picked up the torch, we were able to get it done."
The purpose of the bill is to allow those who use illicit substances to know whether or not the drugs have been laced with fentanyl.
"I think, for people that are actively working in the recovery community, once this becomes law, they won't have to fear an additional criminal charge, if they have something like fentanyl testing strips that can test drugs for people," Probst said. "The main reason is that it will keep people alive. What we know about people in recovery, I used to say on the floor, there are two outcomes, recovery or death. Our goal should be to keep them alive long enough that they get to recovery. This will allow people to test the drugs that they use. We had many conversations about, nobody says that drug use is good, but it is an addiction. It's a disease of the brain. Keeping people alive, allowing them to see if fentanyl is in their drugs, which is a poison. Everybody agrees, that's a poison that's being added to drugs, making sure that they can test for that, make sure that they can know and adjust their behavior on that, will keep them alive."
The hope is that recovery groups across Kansas will be able to build relationships with users by having access to the strips and help them to get farther in the recovery process.
"The two groups that are most at danger of dying from fentanyl poisoning are teenagers who are experimenting for the first time and taking what they think is a prescription drug that is actually a pill made of fentanyl that's been stamped to look like a drug," Probst said. "The second group is people who have been in recovery who relapse and come back in to using a drug for the first time in a long time."
Reno County Health Educator Seth Dewey testified during work on the bill and cited studies saying that 50% of individuals, when given access to fentanyl test strips, alter their using behaviors.
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