Fentanyl, a synthetic opioid that can be 50 to 100 times more potent than morphine, is increasingly appearing in heroin, unbeknownst to users. But now there is a way for heroin users to test for the potentially lethal drug before injecting, according to NPR.
As part of an effort to reduce fentanyl overdoses among heroin users in New York City, Van Asher, the data manager at St. Ann's Corner of Harm Reduction, a needle exchange program in the Bronx, has begun using test strips on clients' heroin to detect fentanyl. The strips are the same test physicians use to check for fentanyl in a patient's urine, according to the report.
Mr. Asher's job is to ensure the CDC and local health departments receive information about the drugs taken by clients of the needle exchange, but he started the fentanyl testing project because the number of overdose deaths in the community he serves has been overwhelming, according to NPR. The New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene said drug overdoses claimed the lives of 1,300 in 2016. That record-setting figure was driven largely by fentanyl, according to the report.
Mr. Asher and St. Ann's began ordering fentanyl test strips from Canada and started handing them out to clients of the needle exchange with the idea that showing users what's in their drugs could help empower them to make better choices, such as taking the drug in a safer environment, more slowly or not at all.
The idea has caught on — now Mr. Asher is working with needle exchanges around the country who are trying to quell the rising tide of overdoses.
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