St. Paul police report spike in overdoses involving synthetic drugs

Our Director of Programs, Allie Carey, appeared on Fox 9 on September 20, 2021 to demonstrate how to use Fentanyl Test Strips.

As reported by Tim Blotz at Fox 9: “St. Paul police are warning about a bad batch of drugs on the streets after the city reported seven overdoses and two deaths in a 24-hour period. Many believe it’s all tied to synthetics laced into the drugs – a deadly trend police and even treatment centers have seen for too long.” Synthetic opioids, like fentanyl, were involved in the greatest proportion of opioid overdose deaths in 2019. Preliminary 2020 data has only shown an increase in these rates.

In effort to combat the growing number of opioid overdoses due to synthetics like fentanyl, SRHN is launching an initiative to distribute free fentanyl test strips (FTS) — a harm reduction tool that can detect the presence of fentanyl or fentanyl analogues in any drug batch.

In response to the spike in overdoses in St. Paul over the weekend, SRHN will be hosting an additional live naloxone training on Wednesday, September 22nd, from 1-2PM CT. This class is open to the public and all participants can receive a certificate of completion and a free IM naloxone kit.

Community Naloxone Training Info

Date: Wednesday, September 22, 2021
Time: 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM (CT)
Zoom ID: 846 0240 3925
Passcode: naloxone
Link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84602403925?pwd=ZTFEUnZRWnJFSEF1UnMzOEdLdG5ndz09

You can find more information about our new fentanyl test strip initiative here, and read and watch the full Fox 9 news story here.