A bill approved Wednesday in the Ohio House seeks to legalize fentanyl test strips in the Buckeye state.
The proposed legislation would no longer consider test strips for the synthetic opioid to be illegal drug paraphernalia, according to the Associated Press.
Owning the test strips can result in a 30-day jail sentence for offenders under current state law, according to the Cleveland Plain Dealer.
So far, no one has testified against the bill that has received strong bipartisan support in the state legislature. Four socially conservative Republican House members were the only “no” votes for the proposed legislation, per the Plain-Dealer.
Kelsey Schmuhl of the Ohio Pharmacists Association said during the bill’s testimony that the legislation would help “meet people where they are” when it comes to fighting drug addiction, per the AP.
Fentanyl was involved in more than 80% of overdose deaths in Ohio in 2020, according to the state’s health department.
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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that two-thirds of the more than 107,000 fatal drug poisonings in 2021 involved fentanyl.
• This article was based in part on wire service reports.
• Matt Delaney can be reached at mdelaney@washingtontimes.com.
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