Kansas House votes to legalize fentanyl test strips after measure failed in Senate last year

The Kansas House approved two bills Thursday legalizing fentanyl test strips amid a larger effort to address deaths and overdoses from the powerful drug.

The House voted unanimously to pass a bill which also increases penalties for distribution and a second bill legalizing test strips while establishing a review board for overdose deaths.

Fentanyl test strips detect fentanyl in pills and other drugs allowing consumers to avoid taking drugs laced with the often-deadly synthetic opioid. Illegal drugs are often laced with fentanyl, boosting their potency but increasing the risk of a fatal overdose.

“Fentanyl drug overdoses, deaths are a very real thing in Kansas right now,” said Rep. Ken Collins, a Mulberry Republican, before telling his colleagues two people close to him had died of overdoses in the past year.

Overdose deaths soared from 393 in 2019 to 679 in 2021, according to data from the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, with 347 of the deaths in 2021 attributable in part to synthetic opioids, which include fentanyl. Data for 2022 was not yet available.

Legalization of the strips has bipartisan support in the House and passed the chamber last year. But it was held up in the Kansas Senate when Sen. Kellie Warren, a Leawood Republican, urged her colleagues to vote against the measure over concerns that the strips would encourage more drug usage.

One bill approved in the House Thursday combined legalization of test strips with increased penalties for manufacturers of fentanyl laced pills creating an automatic prison sentence for offenders.

Rep. Jason Probst, a Hutchinson Democrat who has long supported the legislation, said he hoped for bipartisan support for both measures but acknowledged differing opinions on the merits of test strips.

“I assure you no matter where you live in this state somebody has been affected by fentanyl and it’s quite likely that somebody in your community has died,” Probst said.

The Star’s Jonathan Shorman contributed to this report.