Iowa should have made fentanyl test strips legal and easy to obtain. Change that.

It’s high time for Iowa policymakers to take simple steps to reduce the number of fentanyl overdose deaths in the state.

As of August, only four states and Puerto Rico still grouped drug testing equipment, particularly fentanyl test strips, into the definition of “drug paraphernalia” that is illegal to possess. The tests can save lives because it is common for small but lethal doses of fentanyl to be mixed with other drugs without the user’s knowledge. Easy-to-use test strips indicate whether a substance has been adulterated with fentanyl.

Several years of campaigning in Iowa to legalize fentanyl test strips have yet to yield results. Formal measures have not moved forward in the past two legislative sessions.

His supporters declared themselves more optimistic this summer about 2025. It would not be too soon. Iowa lawmakers should act quickly in January so public and private agencies can make products safely available as soon as possible.

Iowa’s other anti-fentanyl measures lack the directness of this approach

State and local leaders have, of course, taken many steps to respond to an increase in drug overdoses, particularly fentanyl. The legislature has toughened criminal penalties for the sale of fentanyl. It also contributed to widespread efforts to make it easier to obtain naloxone, which can treat opioid overdoses in emergencies. Gov. Kim Reynolds said one goal of her deployments of National Guard troops and state troopers to Texas is to assist in efforts to prevent illegal drugs from entering the United States.

However, none of these actions are both as direct and preventative an intervention as fentanyl test strips would be. The expansion of naloxone was necessary and welcome, but having to use it to reverse the effects of an accidental overdose is not an ideal outcome. Criminal sanctions may have some deterrent effect and remove some traffickers from society, but they will not end drug abuse. And while Iowa soldiers and agents certainly made substantial contributions along the Mexican border, it was clear that the primary purpose of their travels was to help exert political pressure on the federal government to he changes his border policy.

Lawmakers rejected an amendment in 2023 to legalize possession of fentanyl test strips. State Rep. Phil Thompson said then that law enforcement officers had expressed concern about false negative results from test strips, giving people a false sense of security. Estimates of the accuracy of test strips vary. But they are quite often right to say that purely and simply opposing test strips in this area amounts to making the perfect the enemy of the good. No responsible person tolerates the decisions of some Iowans to purchase and use illegal drugs, much less illegal drugs of uncertain origin. But Iowans are making these decisions anyway, and test strips could help them stay alive.

Fast-track bill to legalize fentanyl test strips in 2025

A standalone bill in 2024 by state Rep. John Forbes would have legalized fentanyl test strips and gone further by directing state agencies and other groups to make them available for free, as well as doses of naloxone, in special automatic dispensers. The House Public Safety Committee never passed the bill.

Forbes, who is leaving the Legislature, told the Register he saw such a machine at a rest stop in Oklahoma. “All you do is enter your zip code and it will be distributed to you,” he said. Iowa is one of nine states that prohibit the free distribution of drug control equipment, according to the Network for Public Health Law.

A company that sells fentanyl test strips is advertising in Iowa calling for a change in the law. If that seems selfish, consider the story of Ann Breeding, who publicly advocated for legal testing strips after her son died with fentanyl in his system in 2020. “I’m tired of seeing people die ” she told the Register’s Rekha. Basu in 2022. “And it happens every day. … It’s in every neighborhood, in every tax bracket. The only way to end the stigma is to talk about it.

Forbes’ bill, which goes beyond legalizing test strips and instead aims to put them in the hands of vulnerable Iowans, is expected to be re-proposed and passed quickly in 2025. Iowa must join the rest of the country in making this decision. realistic measure to prevent overdoses.

Lucas Grundmeier, on behalf of the Register editorial board

This editorial is the opinion of the Des Moines Register editorial board: Carol Hunter, editor-in-chief; Lucas Grundmeier, opinion editor; and Richard Doak and Rox Laird, members of the editorial board.

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This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Iowa lags in making fentanyl test strips legal and available | Notice