FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
19 February, 2022
The Georgia Council on Substance Abuse supports HB 1175 and encourages Governor Brian Kemp to sign this bi-partisan bill which will remove strips that test for fentanyl from the list of drug paraphernalia to help make them more accessible.
“Fentanyl testing strips are a proven harm reduction tool which the Georgia Council on Substance Abuse supports and believes helps save lives,” said Neil Campbell, Executive Director, Georgia Council on Substance Abuse.
Fentanyl-related overdose deaths have spiked since the start of the pandemic, rising more than 106% between May 2020 and April 2021, according to the Georgia Department of Public Health.
“Fentanyl is identified, rightly so, with heroin but fentanyl is appearing in anything and everything in communities across Georgia. Fentanyl strips save lives, from college and high school campuses, corporate events, social functions, and private moments of pain; lives will be saved with a wider prevalence of fentanyl test strips. Fentanyl could find its way into any drug of choice for anyone,” said Jeff Breedlove, Chief of Policy and Communications, Georgia Council on Substance Abuse.
“There has been a dramatic increase in overdose deaths this past year. We have seen the numbers that outlined the problem, and one that stands out to us is that more and more people are coming to rural hospital emergency rooms for overdoses due to fentanyl. More than 75% of drug overdose deaths in 2020 involved opioids with nearly two-thirds of those involving fentanyl. Every indicator points to a dangerous increase of fentanyl into communities across Georgia,” said Neil Campbell, Executive Director, Georgia Council on Substance Abuse.
“Fentanyl test strips are available which can quickly determine whether a substance contains fentanyl, but they are in a legal gray area – you can buy them online but a police officer could consider them a drug-related object. Let’s support both our law enforcement community and the Georgia Recovery Community by removing the gray area around life-saving fentanyl strips – they are not a tool for drug use, they are a tool to save lives,” said Breedlove.
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FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
Jeff Breedlove
Chief of Policy and Communications
Georgia Council on Substance Abuse
404-615-5735
#GARecovers
