Illinois lawmakers have approved a bill that would increase access to testing strips that could determine the presence of the deadly drug fentanyl.
Republican state Senator Sally Turner of Beason was a main sponsor of the bill, which would make fentanyl testing strips available for purchase over the counter.
The strips could also be distributed free of charge by county health departments. There’s been a sharp increase in overdoses because of street drugs that have been laced with fentanyl without the user’s knowledge.
The strips work by being placed in a container with a small amount of the drug in question, mixed with water. The strip will indicate if fentanyl is present in that drug. That bill now goes to Governor JB Pritzker’s desk.
