There could soon be another tool to help battle overdoses in Kentucky.
House Bill 353 would exclude fentanyl test strips from being considered drug paraphernalia.
According to the most recent state report, more than 2200 people died of an overdose in Kentucky in 2021 70% of those overdoses involved fentanyl.
Testifying before the House Judiciary Committee today, Sidney Romo told lawmakers that test strips could have helped her nephew who overdosed last year.
It was a tragic event that pushed Parker to his breaking point.
He was experimenting with pills to numb his pain the night he died, and he thought he would take this little tiny pill to go to sleep and get up and go to school the next day, maybe never woke up.
Who contained a lethal dose?
No one was 17 years old.
Parker been educated about the facts of fentanyl and had testing strips in his possession or had been educated.
Who would have?
Maybe that would have changed his opinion on taking that pill that night.
The bill also requires the Cabinet for Health and Family Services to conduct a fentanyl education and awareness campaign.
Republican State Representative Kim Moser, sponsor of House Bill 353, said there is broad support for the bill.
It advanced from committee today without opposition.