NICK GOSNELL
Hutch Post
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Hutchinson Police Chief Jeff Hooper made it clear that his department is not going to charge people for possessing fentanyl test strips, even though the Kansas Legislature still calls them drug paraphernalia.
"Our practice at the Hutchinson Police Department is, we understand the value in those fentanyl test strips," Hooper said. "We haven't charged anybody for that particular crime. I also think that it's important to know that fentanyl test strips, in and of themselves, are not illegal. You can have them. It's kind of like a syringe. You can have a syringe, but a syringe full of heroin is illegal."
Hooper wants to make clear that though they will prosecute drug offenses generally, they still want to be sure that those who feel the need to use can do so safely if at all possible.
"It's not our intent, at the Hutchinson Police Department, even if we find somebody with fentanyl test strips in conjunction with narcotics, that we would charge them for that offense," Hooper said. "That's just our common practice here, because we find value in that. We'd rather them have them and use them, and take the chance of saving their life, as opposed to being afraid that the police department is going to charge them or arrest them for that."
Alcohol and methamphetamine are still the most common overdoses in Reno County, according to the county's overdose dashboard.