FDA advisors recommend over-the-counter use of life-saving opioid overdose treatment Narcan

[BumRushDaShow]

5. Well when you have stuff like this going on

Texas GOP lawmakers warming to opioid harm-reduction policies they once opposed

Gov. Greg Abbott and other Republicans have expressed support for legalizing fentanyl test strips, which help users identify whether the drugs they are planning on taking contain the deadly synthetic opioid.

by James Barragán Dec. 23, 2022 5 AM Central

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Bills to legalize fentanyl test strips, and other similar programs like syringe exchange services that aim to minimize harm for those addicted to drugs, have been filed in the past, but were mostly authored by Democrats and had little chance of becoming law in a Republican-dominated Legislature. Many tough-on-crime Republicans have opposed such measures, concerned that they enable drug use.

Now, some of the Capitol’s most conservative names — like state Sen. Bob Hall of Edgewood and Rep. Tom Oliverson of Cypress— are taking up the case for legalizing fentanyl test strips. And the issue is getting help from top legislative leaders.

“I believe that recommendations made by the public health committee will receive broad support in our chamber, such as legalizing fentanyl testing strips, encouraging the availability of naloxone and promoting a more centralized and coordinated data collection effort to better inform law enforcement and emergency medical services,” House Speaker Dade Phelan said in a statement.

Abbott also said he wanted to make Narcan, a drug used to reverse opioid overdoses that is generically called naloxone, more readily available across the state. First responders and harm-reduction groups that work with people who use drugs have difficulty supplying Narcan because of its cost — about $125 for a kit with two doses.

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https://www.texastribune.org/2022/12/23/texas-legislature-opioid-fentanyl/

you now know that it is a sign that this has started to happen -