Members of the Dallas City Council are asking U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz to support a congressional bill that would effectively decriminalize fentanyl testing strips nationwide.
Council Member Cara Mendelsohn sent a letter to Cruz (R-TX) on Tuesday asking for his support of the Fentanyl Safe Testing Overdose Prevention Act (S.2569) “to help address the fentanyl and opioid crisis both in Texas and in our nation.”
The bill would decriminalize the use of fentanyl test strips. The strips, which can be used to determine whether a drug is laced with fentanyl, are currently illegal in some states, including Texas, where they are categorized as “drug paraphernalia.”
The bipartisan Fentanyl Safe Testing Overdose Prevention Act was introduced in Congress by Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) in July.
Mendelsohn’s letter said decriminalizing fentanyl testing strips “has been a top legislative priority for the City of Dallas.” Council Members Paula Blackmon and Adam Bazaldua “have spearheaded these efforts through the City’s Fentanyl Strike Force.”
Mendelsohn, who now serves as chair of the Dallas City Council Ad Hoc Committee on Legislative Affairs, said S.2569 is “part of crucial bipartisan efforts to ameliorate the harms of the fentanyl and opioid crisis.”
“In addition to supporting this effort led by Senator Cornyn, we also ask that you support the STRIP Act, HR 3563, introduced by Representative Crockett and Representative Gooden.”
The STRIP Act similarly aims to decriminalize the possession, sale, and purchase of fentanyl testing equipment, including test strips. This bipartisan bill was introduced in May by U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Dallas) and was cosponsored by Rep. Lance Gooden (R- Terrell).
“We thank you for championing legislation that will protect our mutual constituents: the people of Dallas,” Mendelsohn wrote to Senator Cruz. “Together, we can prevent further harm from drug overdose and bring recovery to those impacted.”
At the state level, Texas lawmakers introduced several bills during this year’s legislative session to legalize fentanyl test strips, but none were successful. Opposing legislators argued that widespread use of the testing strips would give people more confidence to abuse a drug knowing it does not contain fentanyl, Texas Sen. John Whitmire (D-Houston) told The Dallas Morning News.
“It’s just illogical, but there’s a belief by some members that it might safeguard the use,” Whitmire said in April.
The increased push to decriminalize fentanyl test strips coincides with the start of the first Fentanyl Poisoning Awareness Month in Texas.
“Our state and the entire nation is facing an unprecedented crisis from the deadly drug fentanyl,” Gov. Greg Abbott said in a message shared on social media. “It has claimed the lives of thousands of innocent Americans and is now the leading cause of death in young adults.”
“It is imperative that we work together to protect every Texan from the dangers of fentanyl,” he said. “That’s why this October is the very first ever Fentanyl Poisoning Awareness Month in the state of Texas.”
As previously reported by The Dallas Express, Dallas County recently approved spending $2 million in taxpayer money to renew an agreement providing treatment for substance abuse addicts in the criminal justice system over the next five years.
