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In any given month, Ashley Charzuk says she loses about 10 clients to fentanyl overdoses. And there are no signs of slowing. She said her organization, NM Harm Reduction Collaborative, had two clients die in just the first four days of March.
The losses represent a fraction of the hundreds of New Mexicans who have perished in fentanyl-related overdoses as the deadly synthetic opiate takes over local drug markets.
But New Mexico Department of Health officials said a newly passed bill could reduce the death toll and broaden harm reduction efforts in the community.
On Feb. 28, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signed House Bill 52, updating the state’s Harm Reduction Act to, most notably, allow for the distribution of fentanyl test strips. The bill also gives the department discretion to decide what materials or services are necessary for harm reduction going forward.
“We fully embrace having the ability to intervene as new public health emergencies occur, to save lives and get people into evidence-based treatment programs,” state acting Health Secretary David Scrase said in a release. Scrase said the enhanced capacity to offer services “will make a groundbreaking difference” for those who rely on programs like Charzuk’s.
“Every single barrier, basically, was taken down for us with the bill,” Charzuk said, likening it to something of a blank check for harm reduction efforts. She said the biggest immediate effect will save lives with test strips, which are currently illegal to possess and distribute.
Officials recorded 304 fentanyl overdose deaths between January and November of 2020, a 135% increase over 2019. Unintentional overdoses account for a number of those deaths and DOH officials estimated a third could have been prevented if this bill had been passed prior to the deadly spike.
Josh Swatek, DOH Harm Reduction program manager, said test strips will be legal to possess on May 18, calling the change a “huge deal.”
“Our community members and providers have been asking for these for two years,” he said. “People can finally know what’s in their substances and … use harm reduction methods to make sure that doesn’t become a fatal overdose.”
Swatek said they are starting off with 15,000 test strips “with the ability to purchase more” depending on demand. The program, which serves around 18,500 people, will provide the test strips along with training on how to use them.
Swatek said the new law also allows them to provide supplies like tin foil and plastic pipe covers as they see a “dramatic shift” from people injecting heroin to smoking fentanyl pills.
“We look at the science and we say, what do people need to reduce overdose? What do people need to reduce transmission of infectious disease? So we’re taking all those things into consideration,” he said.
DOH Policy Director Aryan Showers said the act, which was put into place decades ago, needed flexibility built into it to adapt to drug trends and dangers, like fentanyl. She said DOH is working with state prisons and public education to reach communities outside the program, particularly young people.
“We have an incredible problem with kids OD’ing,” Showers said. “They’re not long-term drug users – they’re kids that are taking chances and being spontaneous. We want to make sure that people know what’s in the substance they’re taking.”
Charzuk said she knows, outside of unintentional overdoses, there are many people who seek out fentanyl as their drug of choice.
“That would be naive of us to think they won’t, but now we can turn our efforts to teaching them ways to stay safer if they are using fentanyl,” she said.
Charzuk said having the state supplying test strips – which cost up to $1 a pop – will save the organization money that can be routed toward covering more rural areas and buying additional supplies like tents, tarps, survival items and food.
