Nathan Frandino

OAKLAND (Calif.) – Alison Heller, a patron at the Good Hop beer bar in Oakland is just like every other person thirsty for happy hour.

    But instead of heading to the bar, she goes straight to the bathroom, opens her backpack and pulls out a plastic bag with fentanyl test strips. The 25 strips are placed in a container for everyone to use for free.

    “If you’re going to use drugs here, you can test them,” said Heller, a co-founder of the harm-reduction nonprofit FentCheck.

    Strips to test drugs for the presence of the deadly synthetic opioid are becoming more commonplace in bars, restaurants and venues as the country grapples with the opioid epidemic and soaring death toll.

    Fentanyl has flooded U.S. streets and contributed to nearly 500,000 U.S. opioid overdose deaths over two decades, with the COVID-19 pandemic worsening the situation. Fentanyl is 100-times more powerful than morphine and produces similar effects to opioids like nausea, sedation, and drowsiness. The overdose can result in respiratory failure and even death.

Fentanyl overdoses rank as the leading cause of death in America among residents aged 18 to 45, beating suicide, COVID and car accidents, according an analysis of federal data done by Families Against Fentanyl.

    To prevent such deaths, Heller, FentCheck co-founder Dean Shold and a team of volunteers regularly visit a network of businesses in Oakland, San Francisco, New York and Philadelphia to replenish stocks of the test strips.

    “We’re done with dead kids. Accidental overdoses are gone. Heller explained that they also provide services to people suffering from drug addiction. Heller stated, “They can’t get it to rehab. They won’t be able to make the next step in recovery if they are dead that night.”

    FentCheck staples the strips from Canadian company BTNX to simple instructions for users to test their drugs. The results show up – like a pregnancy or COVID-19 test – with lines indicating positive or negative.

    “They are cheap, they are super easy to use and read and they give you a yes or a no that you can then use,” said Dr. Kathleen Clanon, medical director of Alameda County, which supports the distribution of fentanyl test strips and funds.

They are sensitive and will show fentanyl in the urine if they’re tested. This is a test that I am comfortable using as a community screening.

Melissa Myers, the owner of Good Hop said it was a no brainer to give the strips to customers and to train staff members to use Naloxone. This medicine reverses opioid overdoses quickly.

Myers stated, “We fought for our lives through COVID. I want them here to continue coming back to me and not to die in the streets or at home from trying new drugs.”

Some cities go further than others in fighting drug overdoses. New York City was home to one of the first drug-injection facilities that were supervised by trained personnel.

    Critics say the strips enable drug users. They are considered illegal drug paraphernalia in some states. Alabama, Florida and Tennessee are among the states that have legislation to make these strips illegal.

    Dr. Joey Hensley, a state senator and physician who runs a private practice in Tennessee, voted against the bill there.

    “I just don’t think it’s a good policy to make it easier for people addicted to drugs to use drugs,” he said.

Hensley is skeptical that drug addicts would be affected by the provision of fentanyl testing strips. “If there are studies that show differently, maybe I would change but I just didn’t think that was a good policy,” he said.

    Jason Lujick, owner of The Legionnaire, where test strips sit out on the bar, said lawmakers need to face the facts.

    “If you actually care about your constituents and if you actually look at the data that your health departments are throwing out there and you actually care one iota, grow up,” he said.