District 5 Councilwoman Teri Castillo this summer filed a council consideration request to designate opioid-related overdoses a public health crisis and focus on efforts to help reduce fatalities among those already grappling with addiction issues.
The harm reduction component of the plan includes boosting community access to Narcan, the nasal spray form of naloxone, a drug that reverses opioid overdoses. Further, the proposal would help create and strengthen programs to aid pregnant individuals and mothers in the grips of opioid addiction.
Texas reported 1,692 synthetic opioid-related deaths in 2021, nearly double the death toll of the year before, according to state numbers. Meanwhile, Bexar County alone accounted for 246 overdose deaths that year, and its death rate for opioids is 33% higher than the state average. Experts argue that harm-reduction efforts such as those in Castillo's request are vital since many at high risk for fentanyl exposure.
In April, the Texas House voted overwhelmingly to decriminalize fentanyl test strips, which people can use to test street drugs to check whether they contain fentanyl. However, the state Senate failed to take action on the measure, allowing it to die before it reached the desk of Gov. Greg Abbott. Drug policy experts blasted that piece of legislation, saying it's likely to scare people away from calling for help when someone they're around someone succumbing to an overdose. Similar laws in other states have led to higher overdose deaths and misguided criminal charges against people who aren't drug dealers but family or friends who happened to be present when someone experienced a fatal OD, they warned.
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