Opioid deaths in Mississippi continue to rise, and state lawmakers are considering if test strips that can identify the drug Fentanyl should be de-criminalized. Currently, the strips are classified as paraphernalia, making possession of them illegal. Representative Lee Yancey, who chairs the House Drug Policy committee, says these test strips can help save lives.
“We don’t wanna encourage drug use and we certainly hope that people won’t take pills that weren’t prescribed by their doctor. But at the same time we want to be realistic and make sure that mistakes that young people make are not fatal mistakes.”
Yancey says Fentanyl is often mixed in with other drugs to make them more potent, and these test strips can be used to see if other narcotics are laced with the synthetic opioid. According to the Drug Enforcement Agency, the lethal dose of Fentanyl is around 2.5 milligrams, but some illegally distributed pills can be laced with twice that amount.
Representative Yancey says law enforcement has endorsed this legislation.
“Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics, Department of Public Safety, the Sherriff of Rankin County have all encouraged me to decriminalize the Fentanyl testing strips. They’ve seen the problem of the overdose deaths and they’re all very supportive, along with the state medical association.”
Last night was the final deadline for general bills to be filed in the Mississippi legislature, and all measures are being divided among committees.
