Xylazine, an animal tranquilizer, is increasingly mixed with fentanyl in street drugs. Both are used to increase profit by dealers of heroin, cocaine, and other illicit substances.
RELATED FROM ROUGH DRAFT: Sandy Springs residents learn how dangerous fentanyl has become (Feb. 16, 2024)
Fentanyl is also increasingly found in counterfeit prescription medications like Xanax and Percocet.
Between August 2021 and August 2022, drug poisoning killed 107,735 Americans, with 66% of those deaths involving synthetic opioids like fentanyl, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Knowing what’s in your drug supply allows for dosing decisions.
When people who use drugs have access to harm reduction programs, they can learn more about the dangers of drug misuse. Condoms, vaccinations, and clean syringes reduce infectious disease in the community.
Free test strips for fentanyl and xylazine are also available throughout Georgia thanks to the Harm Reduction Coalition.
Test strips are legal in some, but not all states. In some states, test strips are legal only if they are acquired from harm reduction programs or syringe exchange programs, but Gov. Brian Kemp signed a bill in 2022 to no longer consider fentanyl test strips drug paraphernalia.
That means anyone can sell or distribute the test strips.
But findings from a recent survey of Georgia community pharmacies indicate as many as 82% of pharmacists don’t stock fentanyl test strips and may be unaware of their legalization.
Fewer still are aware of the existence of xylazine test strips.
In 2023, harm reduction advocates opened an office north of Atlanta to reach more people. The Georgia Harm Reduction Coalition also offers mail services and a mobile unit.
Bethany Crippen, an administrative assistant with the Lyla Center in Cherokee County, said harm reduction is, literally and metaphorically about meeting people where they are as a community.
Being…
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