UPDATED ON 4/8/24 at 9:00: On Tuesday, March 26th, Governor Evers signed Senate Bill 875 to legalize fentanyl testing strips.
“There is currently no xylazine reversal agent safe for human use, which means prevention is key—by making these strips available, in addition to providing certain civil and criminal liability exemptions for people distributing or administering these products, we can help save more lives and help get folks on a successful path to recovery.”
Governor Tony Evers
UPDATED ON 2/23/24 at 3:45: The Wisconsin Assembly passed AB 950, sending it to Governor Evers desk. State Representative Jill Billings (D – La Crosse) said she feels confident the testing strips will become legalized based on conversations with the Governor.
“I do a lot of legwork before putting a bill out and I checked in with his office,” said Rep. Billings. “At that time he didn’t have problem with the bill. So I’m optimistic he’ll sign it. I did see him in the capitol on Thursday, I mentioned that I had a bill that passed and I was hoping that he would sign it. Today we sent a letter to his office asking for that action.”
MILWAUKEE – Doctors have a hard time responding to xylazine. Xylazine is a tranquilizer that’s becoming more common in Milwaukee County’s opioid drug overdoses.
Chief Health Policy Advisor in Milwaukee County Dr. Ben Weston says it’s steadily become more prevalent in recent years. “We first saw xylazine back in 2019. In our 343 opioid-related overdoses that year, 1 of those deaths had xylazine. That’s less than a third of a percent. In 2023, we saw 134 deaths involving xylazine out of 502 opioid deaths. More than one in four.”
Dr. Weston says xylazine is added to drugs like heroin and methamphetamines because it increases the ‘high’ sensation. Xylazine is considered an adulterant–substances that are added to drugs to increase the intended sensation, making it easier to overdose. Overdoses are usually treated with naloxone, an inhalant that helps restore breathing and reverse the effects of opiates. Xylazine concerns professionals like Dr. Weston because it is not an opiate, meaning naloxone isn’t an option if that is what triggers an overdose.
“The drug supply in Wisconsin and Milwaukee County has become so adulterated,” says Dr. Weston. “And that’s where harm reduction comes into play.”
In Madison, Assembly Bill 950 would make xylazine testing strips more accessible by removing them from the category of drug paraphernalia. Wisconsin State Senator Jesse James is the lead author of AB 950. His Committee Clerk Victoria Cisola spoke with WTMJ and says testing strips are a way to get ahead of deadly situations.
“It (the overdose) might be non-reversible, so the testing strips are a good way of getting ahead of a non-reversible overdose,” Cisola said.
However, Cisola acknowledged a possible negative side-effect of the testing strips. “The strips could, technically, be used to test on the manufacturing side… you use illicit substances on them to test for xylazine, that’s what gets murky for them technically being drug paraphernalia.”
Xylazine itself is not a controlled substance but the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention clearly states that it is not approved for use by people.
Dr. Weston was adamant that testing strips are a viable way to reduce harmful drug habits. “Testing strips are a critical part of harm reduction,” Dr. Weston said. “We’ve seen that with fentanyl testing strips. A lot of people ask, ‘Do fentanyl testing strips work?’ Turns out, they do work. 3 out of 4 people who are provided strips use them when using harmful substances. Of those who did, half of them changed their behavior.”
Dr. Weston spoke highly of the harm prevention vending machines recently installed by Milwaukee County.
When it comes to drug overdoses, Dr. Weston says the impacts are far reaching. “When we look at opioid overdoses in our community, it’s affecting all demographics. Race, ethnicity, income, municipality, gender…. none of that makes a difference when we’re looking at opioid overdoses.”
