Southern Nevada Health District offers fentanyl test strips to help prevent overdoses

By Kristen DeSilva

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    LAS VEGAS (KVVU) — The Southern Nevada Health District said they will distribute fentanyl test strips to the public and provide information to community partners to distribute them as well.

Overdoses in general increased by 34% in Clark County, the agency said.

The strips are available at the SNHD pharmacy at 280 S. Decatur Boulevard, and are similar to an at-home pregnancy test, but detect fentanyl and fentanyl analogs.

“People who inject drugs have expressed interest in having their drugs checked for fentanyl, and the availability of test strips along with harm reduction counseling and access to resources and treatment is an innovative public health strategy that can help save lives,” SNHD said in a release.

Tablets believed to be laced with fentanyl are displayed at the Drug Enforcement Administration Northeast Regional Laboratory on October 8, 2019 in New York. Drug overdose deaths rose by close to 30% in the United States in 2020.

In Clark County, SNHD said overdose deaths increased from 418 deaths in 2019 to 560 in 2020, primarily driven by fentanyl.

Community partners and agencies interested in distributing test strips can contact the health district for information and training through its Linkage to Action (L2A) program at L2A@snhd.org.

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