There is a new way to help Ohioans prevent and treat overdoses.
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Gov. Mike DeWine signed an executive order to get free test strips to people.
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The strips can detect fentanyl, xylazine, medetomidine, benzimidazole-opioids, benzodiazepines, and benzodiazepine-related compounds.
Tonja Catron, executive director of the SOAR Initiative, was excited by this measure.
“Just simply because people are allowed to make informed decisions now, and we all know that drug checking saves lives,” she said.
Catron works with people in recovery and families across the Miami Valley.
For the last five years, she has helped people who lost loved ones to accidental overdoses.
“Feels like it’s a shift in the right direction for harm reduction and saving lives in Ohio,” Catron said.
DeWine said there are times people take a drug not knowing it has been laced with other drugs.
The hope is that these test strips mean fewer overdose deaths.
“We want to protect human life, and we want people to be able to do that again. We don’t encourage them to use illicit drugs, but these test strips will save lives,” DeWine said.
People can order the test strips online and have them shipped to their home.
“This stuff is highly addictive, so if they could have those test strips around that may save a life, just like Narcan,” DeWine said.
DeWine also said the goal is to have test strips available at rest stops.
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