OAKLAND, Calif. — Walking into the Good Hop craft beer bar in Oakland, California, Alison Heller looks like any other patron thirsting for happy hour.
But instead of heading to the bar, she goes straight to the bathroom, opens her backpack and pulls out a plastic bag with fentanyl test strips. She puts 25 strips in a jar for anyone to take for free.
“If you’re going to use drugs here, you can test them,” said Heller, a co-founder of the harm-reduction nonprofit FentCheck.
Strips to test drugs for the presence of the deadly synthetic opioid are becoming more commonplace in bars, , and venues as the country grapples with the opioid epidemic and soaring death toll.
Fentanyl has flooded US streets and contributed to nearly 500,000 US opioid overdose deaths over two decades, with the COVID-19 pandemic worsening the situation. Fentanyl, which is 100 times more potent than morphine, produces effects similar to other opioids, like sedation, drowsiness and nausea. Overdosing can cause respiratory failure leading to death.
Fentanyl overdoses are now the top cause of death among US residents ages 18-45, surpassing suicide, car accidents and COVID, according to an analysis of federal data by opioid awareness organization Families Against Fentanyl.
To prevent such deaths, Heller, FentCheck co-founder Dean Shold and a team of volunteers regularly visit a network of businesses in Oakland, San Francisco, New York and Philadelphia to replenish stocks of the test strips.
“We’re done with dead kids. We’re done with accidental overdoses. We are also serving people who are struggling with drug addiction,” Heller said. “They cannot make it to rehab, they cannot make it to the next step in their sobriety if they die that night.”
FentCheck staples the strips from Canadian company BTNX to simple instructions for users to test their drugs. The results show up — like a pregnancy or COVID-19 test — with lines indicating positive or negative.
“They are cheap, they are super easy to use and read and they give you a yes or a no that you can then use,” said Dr. Kathleen Clanon, medical director of Alameda County, which supports the distribution of fentanyl test strips and funds.
