Governor Reeves indicators the invoice into regulation, pointing to the shortage of management on the U.S. Southern border as a trigger for overdoses associated to the drug.

On Monday, Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves (R) signed Home Invoice 722 into regulation, decriminalizing fentanyl testing strips within the state. The laws, authored by State Consultant Chris Bell (D), handed the Home and Senate overwhelmingly earlier than being despatched to the Governor’s desk.

Fentanyl testing strips (FTS) are a way of serving to forestall drug overdoses and lowering hurt in addition to detecting the presence of fentanyl in all totally different varieties of medication and drug types.

Moreover, the strips can present individuals who use medicine and the encircling communities with necessary details about fentanyl within the drug provide to allow them to take steps to cut back threat of overdose.

“I’ve signed HB 722 which decriminalizes fentanyl testing strips,” Governor Reeves mentioned. “It’s a tragic actuality that fentanyl overdoses are skyrocketing because of an open border.”

In accordance with the CDC, charges of overdose deaths involving artificial opioids aside from methadone, which incorporates fentanyl and fentanyl analogs, elevated over 56% from 2019 to 2020. The variety of overdose deaths involving artificial opioids in 2020 was greater than 18 instances the quantity in 2013. In 2022, the CDC reported in its most up-to-date knowledge that there was an 18% enhance from 2021 to 2022 in overdose deaths from artificial opioids, primarily fentanyl.

Many Republicans, like Governor Reeves, blame the Biden Administration’s failure to shut the U.S. Southern border with these will increase. Information from the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) state that probably the most illegally sourced fentanyl comes from Mexico and seizures have been rising since 2015. In 2022, seizures rose from 11,200 in 2021 to 14,700, in response to CBP knowledge.

State Consultant Bell mentioned he’s grateful that the Mississippi Governor signed the laws into the regulation.

“We’re 100% on board with saving lives and being a great shepherd and serving to these people who’re hooked on medicine,” Rep. Bell mentioned. “We aren’t selling drug use, however we’re positively selling saving lives. This invoice has completely nothing to do with open borders, it has all the pieces to do with saving lives and that’s what we need to do, we need to save lives.”

State Consultant Lee Yancey (R), Chairman of the Home Drug Coverage Committee, mentioned by singing this laws into regulation, we’re making a small dent within the opioid epidemic in Mississippi and throughout the nation.

“We all know that one tablet can kill,” Rep. Yancey mentioned. “Now a silly mistake doesn’t should be a deadly mistake. The passing of this invoice into regulation will save lives. Praying that our younger folks will stay to battle one other day. Grateful for the work of Rep. Chris Bell and for Gov. Tate Reeves signing the invoice.”

The CDC, American Medical Affiliation (AMA) and the Mississippi State Medical Affiliation have supported H.B. 722 all through the session.

In a current op-ed, Oxford psychiatrist and Mississippi State Medical Affiliation Board of Trustee Dr. Katherine Pannel wrote that fentanyl take a look at strips are a reasonable, simple to make use of technique to forestall deaths from fentanyl.

“Not solely do these strips save lives, however additionally they put drug sellers out of enterprise,” Pannel states. “As soon as a consumer determines their product has been laced, they don’t return to that very same supplier, they usually let all of these of their circle know to not purchase from them both. Fentanyl take a look at strips can due to this fact truly scale back the availability of fentanyl along with saving lives.”

Dr. Pannel explains that the strips value lower than a greenback, are simple to make use of and are extraordinarily efficient at detecting the presence of fentanyl. States may even obtain federal funding for these strips, so it prices them nothing.