Although its defenders say they save lives, test strips to detect if there is fentanyl in a dose of heroin or cocaine will remain illegal in Florida, the US state with the second highest number of overdose deaths.
A few days ago, the Republican majority in the Florida Congress rejected including the legalization of these reagents in a law related to drug policies, which prevents their commercialization.
Those who voted against argued that they can encourage drug use, the same argument used by those who oppose “narcan”, the antidote for opiate overdoses, circulating among drug users and being widely provided to police officers. and paramedics who must attend to those emergencies.
From May 2020 to April 2021, 100,306 people died from overdoses in the United States and in 64% of cases synthetic opiates were involved, especially fentanyl, which originates in China and arrives in the US from Mexico. , according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
In Florida, in twelve months (October 2020-September 2021), overdoses claimed the lives of 7,574 people (7,422 a year earlier), a figure only surpassed in California, where there were 10,098 deaths from this cause in the same period (8,480). .
Not legalizing fentanyl detection strips “is another big mistake,” Joy Stampler, an activist for drug decriminalization and decent treatment for those who consume them , tells Efe , who believes that it should be a priority for the authorities of Florida and all over the US reduce overdoses.
Stampler lost her son Jonathan to a heroin overdose in 2003 and is the widow of Jack Fishman, the scientist who developed the “narcan,” the nasal spray that, if used early enough, can reverse the effects of excess drug use. the organism.
According to advocates for a change in Florida’s drug policy and what is known as “harm reduction,” the number of overdose deaths would decrease if users could determine that cocaine, heroin, or other drug they are going to consume has been “cut” with fentanyl , a synthetic opioid that is 50 times more powerful than heroin and cheaper.
