HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, Fla. — Fentanyl remains a silent killer among us, claiming more and more lives every year.
In fact, according to the CDC, over 107,000 Americans died from drug overdoses and poisonings from 2021 to 2022. And a staggering 67% of those involved synthetic opioids like Fentanyl. One big thing to note, some of these cases were attributed to Fentanyl being mixed in with other drugs, and users said they were unaware they were taking it.
That was the case for a pregnant woman Bianca Mcree saw at the hospital last year.
“I was working for Baycare, and a young woman came in,” Mcree said. “Her family confirmed that she didn’t do anything but some a little bit of marijuana. Her marijuana was laced with Fentanyl. I watched them attempt to save her and her unborn child, and they passed away as a result.”
Mcree works with women in the rockery at Ruth House Recoveries in Pasco County. Sadly she has countless stories like the one she shared.
“Because of Fentanyl, Carfentanil, and Nitazene that are in the drugs,” she said.
That’s why she and other advocates are glad state leaders legalized the use of fentanyl test strips. She said the mother and baby might have survived if she had access to the test strips before smoking the marijuana.
“I feel like it’s a huge success and win,” said Nathan Cantie, Vice President of The Hope Shop. “For the simple fact that we have a fentanyl crisis in this community and in this country.”
According to Project Opioid Tampa Bay, Fentanyl is responsible for 82% of the opioid overdoses in the Bay Area. While the strips are helpful, advocates said they are not 100% effective. They don’t tell you how much Fentanyl is in the drug or how strong it is, and they don’t detect stronger versions of Fentanyl, like Carfentanil.
“That being said, it is so much more important that people are equipped with the opportunity to protect themselves than the overall problems with testing,” Recovering addict and executive director of the recovery epicenter foundation William Atkinson said. “Things like Fentanyl testing strips, Narcan, and other harm reduction methods that can keep a person like me long enough to hear a message is great.”
He said, “People like me deserve to survive this as much as anyone else.”
NarCan has been a significant help in areas like Pasco County.
“My only goal is to save lives,” said Matthew Dasinger.
Dasinger owns Das Executive Protection, and he goes out into the community, passing out Narcan spray to people experiencing homelessness. He gives out about 600 a week now. He said while Narcan and Fentanyl strips are not 100%, they’re what they have right now to save a life.
“What we are looking for is hope that one day we will have a strip that will test everything,” he said. “We don’t have that yet.”
Advocates said the key to being drug-free is getting help.
Links for help with drug addiction:
The Hope Shot: https://thehopeshot.org/
Ruth Houe: https://ruthrecovery.com/welcome-home
Recovery Epicenter: https://recoveryepicenterfoundation.org/
CDC information on Fentanyl Test Strips: https://www.cdc.gov/stopoverdose/fentanyl/fentanyl-test-strips.html
