CLEVELAND (AP) - An alcohol and drug addiction services agency in the county that includes Cleveland has given businesses free fentanyl test strips their customers can use to find out if drugs like cocaine have been adulterated with the powerful synthetic opioid.
Cleveland.com reports Cuyahoga (ky-uh-HOH’-guh) County’s Alcohol, Drug Addiction and Mental Health Services Board gave the test strips to more than a dozen businesses in June. It provided two health care centers with the strips last year.
A large number of accidental overdose deaths in the county have been attributed to fentanyl mixed with other drugs.
The board’s executive director, Scott Osiecki, says his agency views the strip, which costs $1, as a “harm reduction tool.”
One business reports its first box of 100 strips ran out in just over a week.
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Information from: cleveland.com, http://www.cleveland.com
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