Scientists call for research to maximize use of fentanyl test strips

The government’s top addiction scientists and key public health officials are calling for more research on maximizing the potential use of fentanyl test strips (Source: “Top health officials call for more research to support fentanyl test strips,” STAT News, June 10).

Amid a devastating overdose epidemic, the U.S. must ensure that test strips are legal and widely available, the officials wrote in a New England Journal of  Medicine perspective published this week. Additionally, they argued, the U.S. should work to develop new products and technologies that facilitate drug-checking.

Drug-checking, an increasingly common harm-reduction tactic, involves testing a supply of illicit drugs to determine its contents. In recent years, as fentanyl has come to contaminate much of the illicit drug supply in the U.S., the strategy has become a critical component of overdose-prevention efforts.

While most states once classified drug testing strips as illegal paraphernalia, fentanyl test strips are now legal in a large majority of states (including Ohio, which decriminalized them in early January).