R Street Testimony in Support of MA S 1057, An Act Relative to Fentanyl Test Strips

Testimony from:

Robert Melvin, Northeast Region Director, R Street Institute
In SUPPORT of Senate Bill 1057: “An Act Relative to Fentanyl Test Strips.”

May 6, 2025

Joint Committee on the Judiciary

Chairwoman Edwards, Chairman Day, and members of the committee,

My name is Robert Melvin, and I am the Northeast region director at the R Street Institute. The R Street Institute (RSI) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan public policy organization. Our mission is to engage in research and outreach to promote free markets, and limited, effective government in a variety of policy areas, including opioid harm reduction.  That is why we have a particular interest in S 1057.

Ideally, the world would be devoid of substance abuse, but my organization accepts that this is not practical since some people will continue to partake in risky behaviors, and that programs focused solely on halting or abstaining from substance use aren’t effective in every situation.^[1] Unlike a strict model centered on total avoidance, harm reduction employs a sensible approach to protect lives while mitigating the fatal consequences associated with certain high-risk activities, such as drug use.^[2] This is accomplished by engaging with individuals in their current circumstances, providing appropriate education, and equipping them with the tools and resources to make safer, more informed choices.^[3] 

Unfortunately, Massachusetts law has been ambiguous with respect to its legal treatment of critical public health resources, like fentanyl test strips. That’s why we support and believe S 1057 is vital to help bolster the interventions available. It does this by amending Massachusetts drug paraphernalia law to clarify that “criminal or civil liability or any professional disciplinary action” would not result from possession or use of “fentanyl test strips or any testing equipment or device solely used, intended for use or designed to be used to determine whether a substance contains fentanyl or its analogues.”^[4] Adding this to statute will allow people who use illicit drugs to access fentanyl test strips and other devices to check their substances more readily for fentanyl and its analogues—thereby helping them avoid unintentional overdoses caused by contaminants in the drugs.

While overdose deaths have been declining in the Commonwealth for approximately two years, they remain a crucial problem. In the 12-month period that ended in November 2024, Massachusetts experienced around 1,695 overdose fatalities, most of them the result of fentanyl and related substances.^[5] 

Heroin and other illicit drugs carry an inherent risk, but it is frequently the substances that are commonly mixed into these drugs without the user’s knowledge – like the potent synthetic opioid fentanyl – that heighten the likelihood of fatal outcomes and complicate efforts in overdose prevention and intervention.^[6] This is why drug-checking equipment is so critical to saving lives.

Drug-checking tools, such as fentanyl test strips (FTS), are widely used and have been proven to save lives. Studies indicate that as many as 81% of people who inject drugs utilize FTS, underscoring the critical role drug checking now plays in harm reduction efforts.^[7] These tools empower people to reduce risk by modifying their dosage, choosing to use in the company of others who can administer naloxone or call for help, or even discarding potentially contaminated substances.^[8] Recognizing their life-saving potential, major public health organizations—including the American Medical Association—have expressed strong support for “harm reduction policies…designed for harm reduction from drug use, including but not limited to drug-contamination testing.”^[9]

Critics of drug-checking tools, such as fentanyl test strips, often claim that these devices encourage drug use by creating a false sense of security. However, this claim is not backed by any scientific evidence. Dr. Rahul Gupta, former Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, has stated that “there is no scientific evidence to support this notion that harm-reduction services like fentanyl test strips somehow encourage drug use.”^[10] On the contrary, research consistently demonstrates that drug checking reduces harm and, in some cases, even leads individuals to reconsider or avoid using drugs altogether.^[11]

Removing the legal uncertainty related to possession and use of drug-checking equipment that tests for fentanyl and its analogues will help move Massachusetts to be closer in line with many other states that recognize the importance of these harm-reduction tools. Doing so will also help save lives, and empower users to be safer by reducing the risks associated with illicit drug use. For these reasons, I urge you to support S 1057.

Thank you,

Robert Melvin
Northeast Region State Government Affairs Director
R Street Institute
rmelvin@rstreet.org