fentanyl test strips

Overdose Lifeline, an advocacy organization, describes test strips as a life-saving tool. It distributed more than 170,000 test strips in 2023 despite the uncertainty surrounding the law.

Health

Indiana Senate passes bill to decriminalize fentanyl test strips, eliminate legal ‘gray area'

Abigail Ruhman

Indiana law classifies tools that test the “strength, effectiveness, or purity of a controlled substance” as paraphernalia. This created a “gray area” for fentanyl test strips. The Senate passed legislation to clarify tools that check for the presence of a substance would no longer be considered paraphernalia.

Indiana law classifies tools that test the “strength, effectiveness, or purity of a controlled substance” as paraphernalia. Last session, a bill to remove that language from the code ultimately died in the Senate Corrections and Criminal Law committee when it wasn’t called for a hearing.

Health

Efforts to decriminalize fentanyl test strips gain momentum in Indiana legislature

Abigail Ruhman

Indiana lawmakers are closer than ever to declassifying fentanyl test strips as paraphernalia. A Senate committee passed a bill Tuesday that would make an exception to the statute to allow tools that test for the presence of certain substances.

Overdose Lifeline distributed more than 170,000 test strips in 2023. Advocates said they are more interested in saving lives than "getting held up on those gray areas" – which is where the legality of the test strip exists in Indiana code.

Statewide

Stigma, misinformation killed bill to decriminalize test strips, advocates say

Abigail Ruhman

Overdose Lifeline distributed more than 170,000 test strips in 2023. Advocates said they are more interested in saving lives than "getting held up on those gray areas" – which is where the legality of the test strip exists in Indiana code.