BOSTON — State lawmakers are moving to legalize fentanyl test strips to help curb an ongoing wave of opioid-related overdoses deaths.
The state Senate on Wednesday approved legislation to remove criminal or civil liability for the sale, possession, and distribution of fentanyl test strips, and other testing equipment used to identify the synthetic opioid.
The measure includes a “Good Samaritan” provision that exempts from liability anyone who in “good faith provides, administers or utilizes fentanyl test strips or any testing equipment or devices solely used, intended for use, or designed to be used to determine whether a substance contains fentanyl or its analogues.”
“We know two things in Massachusetts as facts: opioids take far too many lives in our state, and fentanyl test strips save them,” Senate President Karen Spilka, D-Ashland, said in a statement. “By voting to legalize fentanyl test strips, the Senate is taking a commonsense action step to save lives in our state — and we know it works.”
In 2020, the state Department of Public Health created a pilot program in collaboration with six police departments across the state to distribute fentanyl test strips.
Health officials said while the results of the pilot were positive, there was confusion over the legal status of fentanyl test strips and whether they could be classified as drug paraphernalia, which would make possession punishable under state law.
One of the bill’s primary sponsors, Sen. Cynthia Creem, D-Newton, said the changes “will empower police departments and community organizations to distribute fentanyl test strips and help prevent overdoses.”
The proposal must still be approved by the state House of Representatives and survive Gov. Maura Healey’s veto pen. If approved, Massachusetts would join 36 other states and Washington, D.C. in moving to decriminalize what harm reduction advocates call life-saving tools in an increasingly contaminated drug market.
This week, the New Hampshire House of Representatives approved a bill that will remove “drug-checking equipment” from the state’s definition of drug paraphernalia. It would also allow people to possess small amounts of drugs — for the purpose of testing checking – without fear of criminal prosecution.
The move follows Gov. Chris Sununu’s approval last year of a bill removing fentanyl and xylazine testing equipment from the definition of “drug paraphernalia” in state law.
The latest data from Massachusetts public health officials show the scourge of opioid addiction continues to grip the state, with only a slight decrease in the number of overdose deaths in the past year.
There were 2,323 confirmed or suspected opioid-related deaths from Oct. 1, 2022 to Sept. 30, 2023 — eight fewer than the same period in 2021, according to a report released mid-week by the state Department of Public Health.
Health officials attributed the persistently high death rates to the effects of an “increasingly poisoned drug supply,” primarily with the powerful synthetic opioid fentanyl.
Fentanyl was present in 93% of the overdose deaths where a toxicology report was available, state officials noted.
Curbing opioid addiction has been a major focus on Beacon Hill for a number of years with hundreds of millions of dollars being devoted to expanding treatment and prevention efforts.
The state has set some of the strictest opioid prescribing laws in the nation, including a cap on new prescriptions in a seven-day period and a requirement that doctors consult a state prescription monitoring database before prescribing an addictive opioid.
State health officials are also expressing support for “overdose prevention centers” where drug addicts can inject drugs under the supervision of medical staff to help prevent fatal overdoses.
In 2022, opioid-related overdoses killed 2,359 people in Massachusetts, setting a new record high fatality rate of 33.5 per 100,000 people — an increase of 2.5% from the previous year — according to the health department.
More than 25,000 people have died from opioid-related overdoses in the state since 2011, according to state records.
Massachusetts isn’t alone in the uptick of opioid related deaths during the pandemic. Nationally, opioid-related overdose deaths soared to a record 107,000 in 2022, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Christian M. Wade covers the Massachusetts Statehouse for North of Boston Media Group’s newspapers and websites. Email him at cwade@cnhinews.com