Idaho House to consider fentanyl strips

BOISE — Idaho may join a growing number of states that are legalizing fentanyl test strips in response to rising overdose deaths from the potent opioid.

Rep. Marco Erickson, R-Idaho Falls, and House Minority Leader Ilana Rubel, D-Boise, sponsored HB 441, which the House Health and Welfare Committee unanimously voted to approve Thursday.

Under current code, testing strips for controlled substances are considered drug paraphernalia. Erickson said Idaho is among about six states that still prohibit the strips. The testing strips can be used on a substance to determine if it has been laced with fentanyl, which is deadly in very low doses.

“What we’re trying to do is just say, this is not paraphernalia, this is a life-saving measure,” Erickson said.

Erickson has worked in drug prevention and other behavioral health services.

Rubel said there’s data supporting the effectiveness of the testing strips in reducing deaths, such as a study in Delaware in which people who regularly use drugs were given fentanyl testing strips, and as a result, 47% of them took harm-reduction actions, such as using less of the drug than they were intending.

In 2022, Idaho recorded 188 overdose deaths related to fentanyl, according to the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare. From 2020 to 2022, the rate of fentanyl-related overdose deaths tripled in Idaho.

“This will be just very helpful for people to be able to cheaply and easily for people to make sure they aren’t being inadvertently poisoned by fentanyl,” Rubel said.

Two Idaho college students spoke in favor of the legislation, as did a representative from the ACLU of Idaho. No one spoke in opposition.

Cayden Stone, government relations officer for the Associated Students of Boise State University, said the issue was personal to him.

Stone said he grew up in the Coeur d’Alene area, and in 2021, a sophomore at his high school died of a fentanyl overdose. Michael Stabile was 15 years old when he died.

“But sadly, in the world of overdose, no story is able to stand out amidst the appalling volume of senseless death we see every year,” Stone said.

He said it was important to continue education about the dangers of drugs and fentanyl, but the strips should be legalized to avoid preventable deaths.

Martha Smith, director of legislative affairs for Associated Students of the University of Idaho, also spoke in favor. She said growing up in Kooskia, she was around a lot of substance abuse.

“As a young person in the state, I worry about the people who I grew up with back home, I worry about the people I go to school with,” Smith said.

She said that adding the strips to a toolkit could allow people who are in addiction more time to go into recovery.

ACLU of Idaho Advocacy Director Julianne Donnelly Tzul said the group supported the bill because research supports harm reduction techniques for dealing with addiction and preventing deaths. She said the legislation is “prudent and effective.”

At a meeting with reporters on Tuesday, Gov. Brad Little indicated he would support the legalization of the testing strips but he hadn’t looked into the issue yet.

The committee unanimously voted to send HB 441 to the House floor for a full vote.

Guido covers Idaho politics for the Lewiston Tribune, Moscow-Pullman Daily News and Idaho Press of Nampa. She may be contacted at lguido@idahopress.com and can be found on X, formerly Twitter, @EyeOnBoiseGuido.