Senator Cory Booker announced plans to increase the availability of fentanyl test strips throughout the nation in the midst of the opioid crisis. He spoke about the need to provide better access to the strips, which can detect deadly fentanyl in other drugs, at a press conference attended by the Partnership for a Drug-Free New Jersey at New Bridge Medical Center in Bergen County on Friday, August 25.

More than 107,000 people died of drug overdoses in 2022, and it is estimated that fentanyl and other synthetic opioids were involved in more than two-thirds of these deaths. In many cases, people do not know that fentanyl is present in substances before they overdose. The test strips are a harm reduction tool that would help prevent overdoses, but they are currently still illegal in several states.

Booker, who was joined at the press conference by Congressman Josh Gottheimer, has introduced federal legislation that will make the strips legal in all 50 states, and he plans to introduce laws to help pay for them. This measure and other evidence-based harm reduction efforts help to save lives throughout the country.