LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Fentanyl, around the country and in Louisville, is the drug most associated with overdose deaths.
Which is why the city is taking new steps to try and prevent that, by introducing fentanyl test strips.
Matt LaRocco is a community liaison for one of the Metro Public Health Department's syringe exchange centers. That is where the test strips will be offered.
"It's something that we thought needed to happen," he said. "Right now people are coming in and saying 'hey I heard you have test strips.' We've been talking about it for a while, so they're glad they're finally in."
LaRocco said they have introduced the strips within the last two weeks, but it's something they've been looking into since last year. This year, they finally received a grant to fund the strips.
Other cities use test strips too, but they're relatively newer in practice. A study by Brown and Johns Hopkins Universities gave participants who use drugs, the test strips. The study showed half of the participants detected fentanyl in their drug supply, using the test strips. It also found the strips were effective in preventing overdose deaths.
"Our study shows that the fentanyl test strips are effective at preventing overdoses," the study said. "A majority of our participants who received a positive result changed their drug-using behavior. The harm reduction concept behind these test strips, adding a cheap but effective layer of protection against known overdose risks, is similar to other health precautions such as using condoms to prevent sexually transmitted diseases."
The strips work by dipping them into drug residue diluted with water. Pretty quickly after that, red lines will appear. Two lines mean a negative result, but one red line means it tests positive for fentanyl.
Just a small trace of the opioid can be deadly. LaRocco said what is most concerning is that it is now appearing in other drugs, such as heroin, methamphetamine, and cocaine.
"At this stage of the game here in Louisville, pretty much everybody's heroin has fentanyl in it and some people's heroin doesn't even have heroin. It's literally just fentanyl that's been cut with some kind of filler," LaRocco said.
LaRocco said Louisville's syringe exchange sites have serviced over 15,000 people since 2015. He said many of those people want to know what's in the drugs they are using, so he believes many will utilize the test strips.
"It's not like people are running around saying 'oh let me go get that fentanyl.' The majority of people are going 'no I would prefer not to have fentanyl in my drug supply,'" LaRocco said. "Our participants have said this is something we would like. We know there is fentanyl out there and we're concerned about it, we don't want to die."
Participants won't bring drugs into the exchange centers to test. Instead, they will take the test strips with them to use on their own anywhere else.
LaRocco said the test strips are about providing more information to drug users, and hopefully in turn, changing their decision-making.
"When they make a behavioral change, and they're successful in making that behavioral change, the studies have showed us they're more likely to make other behavioral changes," LaRocco said. "And ultimately can lead somebody to make the decision to stop using drugs and get into treatment."
He also said people can't work on a problem unless they are aware of the problem, which starts with thinking about the problem. That is why he said the test strips are the first step in that process.
"This isn't going to end the opioid epidemic, but it is going to keep people alive and it's going to give people opportunity to make change. You can't change when you're dead. You can't make healthier choices, you can't engage in recovery, that's not going to happen when you die. So the goal is to keep people alive," he said.
►Contact reporter Tyler Emery at temery@WHAS11.com. Follow her on Twitter (@TylerWHAS11) and Facebook.