Local harm reduction and drug users' union activist Jess Tilley has discovered a quick, easy way to save drug users' lives : fentanyl urine test strips can also be used to test street heroin itself for the presence of fentanyl. When distributed to users, the results these test strips show can ma...
Hi, everyone! Again, we're so grateful for everything you've donated to provide life-saving fentanyl test strips to Western MA for users to test their drugs. That money has gone far and been put to good use--from the last shipment, Caty is halfway through distributing her box of 100 plus testing strips to Holyoke drug users and their families and friends, and Jess is almost out in Northampton. We've only wanted to ask for modest amounts up to this point, but now we're raising our expectations. I'm going to raise the goal by another $500 so that we can provide test strips to all the chapters of the New England Users' Union to distribute throughout their areas, and to keep providing strips to Hampden and Hampshire counties. Here's why:
We're seeing fentanyl show up constantly now, not only in heroin but in cocaine, purported Ecstasy pills, meth, and in supposedly low-potency opioid pills which look exactly like the legitimate pharmacy distributed ones. A recent overdose involved a high school student who took what he believed were Percocets---they turned out to be pressed pills of straight fentanyl. For opioid naive users of drugs like cocaine and Ecstasy, any amount of fentanyl is a death sentence. We're urging people to test their drugs every time, and we can only ask them to do that if the resources are there. Thank you again so much for your help, which has meant and will mean the difference between life and death.