Testimony from:

Robert Melvin, Northeast Region Director, R Street Institute

Testimony in Support of HB 2319: “Drug and controlled paraphernalia; creates exception for drug checking products.”

January 30, 2025

House Health and Human Services Committee

Chairman Sickles 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 is a nonprofit, nonpartisan public policy research organization engaged in policy analysis and outreach promoting free markets, and limited, effective government in a variety of policy areas, including opioid harm reduction. This is why we have a strong interest in House Bill 2319.

My organization recognizes that while ideally no one would engage in substance use, some people will always take part in risky conduct, and that individuals will get left behind if we only have cessation and abstinence programs.[1] Harm reduction is a prudent approach to save lives and reduce risks associated with certain behaviors, including drug use, by meeting people where they are and equipping them with the education, tools, and resources to make healthier choices.[2] 

HB 2319 will broaden Virginia’s drug checking equipment law by clarifying that “drug checking products used to determine the presence or concentration of a contaminant that can cause physical harm or death,” are not considered drug paraphernalia under state law.[3] This measure builds on a statute adopted in 2019 that was passed unanimously by the Virginia General Assembly that made it clear drug checking equipment for illicit drugs that is used to check for fentanyl or fentanyl analogs, like fentanyl test strips (FTS), were not considered drug paraphernalia.[4]

The 2019 law was adopted to help individuals who use substances – whether they have a substance use disorder or use them recreationally – do not unintentionally experience an overdose as a result of potential contaminants in those drugs. Thanks to efforts by the General Assembly to expand access to overdose reversal medications naloxone, and allowing for drug checking equipment to test for fentanyl, Virginia has seen a 31 percent decline in the number of overdose fatalities over the past year.[5] 

Illicit opioids like heroin are hazardous, but contaminants and adulterants, which are harmful substances frequently added to drugs without the user’s awareness – like the potent synthetic opioid fentanyl – make them far deadlier and complicate overdose responses.[6] Without legislative action, these positive reductions in overdoses may be undermined by rapidly emerging adulterants in illegal drugs.

Unfortunately, the dynamic nature of the overdose crisis means that contaminants that are mixed with illegal drugs like heroin or cocaine are frequently changing. Fentanyl was once the primary adulterant in the illicit drug supply. Now, novel adulterants are emerging, including xylazine (an animal tranquilizer that creates really bad flesh wounds), nitazenes (a synthetic opioid even more powerful than fentanyl), benzodiazepines (a powerful sedative), and industrial chemicals.[7] 

This constantly evolving illicit market necessitates a broader drug checking law to test for the presence of any contaminant that causes physical harm of death. Moreover, it’s needed to reduce the need for lawmakers to re-legislate the issue every time a new contaminant or adulterant appears in the illicit drug supply. This will enable individuals and harm reduction organizations to adapt quickly to novel contaminants in illegal drugs. Most importantly, this change to the state law will save lives.

We know devices, like drug checking equipment, are widely used and save lives. Some research has found that as many as 81 percent of individuals who inject drugs utilize fentanyl test strips.[8] Drug checking empowers them to consume more safely by reducing doses, or using with others nearby who can administer naloxone or contact emergency services in case of an overdose, thereby decreasing fatality risk.[9] Users will in some cases even discard their supply if testing shows it was contaminated.[10] The positive benefits of these harm reduction tools is why public health organizations, like the American Medical Association have even thrown in support behind “harm reduction policies that provide civil and criminal immunity for the possession, distribution and use of ‘drug paraphernalia’ designed for harm reduction from drug use, including but not limited to drug-contamination testing.”[11]

Critics may claim that drug checking equipment, like fentanyl test strips, encourages drug use by giving users a false sense of safety; however, this assertion is unsupported by research. Dr. Rahul Gupta, who directs the Office of National Drug Control Policy, has pointed out that “there is no scientific evidence to support this notion that harm-reduction services like fentanyl test strips somehow encourage drug use.”[12] In fact, data and research conclude that drug checking equipment helps reduce risks and has even been shown to discourage use in certain instances.

It’s critical that Virginia expand existing drug checking law beyond merely permitting instruments to test for fentanyl and fentanyl analogs, to any testing equipment that can examine for potential contaminants that can cause physical harm or death. This will help save lives and enable harm reduction organizations and public health officials to rapidly respond to the frequently changing opioid crisis. Moreover, it will also have the benefit of ensuring that legislators do not have to update the law every time a new adulterant appears in the illicit market. For these reasons, I strongly urge you to pass HB 2319.

Thank you,

Robert Melvin

Northeast Region State Government Affairs Director

R Street Institute

rmelvin@rstreet.org 


[1] “Harm Reduction,” R Street Institute. Last accessed January 26, 2025. https://www.rstreet.org/home/our-issues/harm-reduction.

[2] “Harm Reduction,” Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration, April 24, 2023. https://www.samhsa.gov/find-help/harm-reduction.

[3] Virginia General Assembly, 2025 Legislative Session, House Bill 2319, Last accessed January 26, 2025: https://lis.virginia.gov/bill-details/20251/HB2319

[4] Code of Virginia, § 54.1-3466(A). Possession or distribution of controlled paraphernalia; definition of controlled paraphernalia; evidence; exceptions. Last accessed January 26, 2025: https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title54.1/chapter34/section54.1-3466/

Code of Virginia, § 18.2-265.1(4). Definitions. Last accessed January 26, 2025: https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title18.2/chapter5/section18.2-265.1/

[5] “Provisional Drug Overdose Death Counts,” National Vital Statistics System, National Center for Health Statistics, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, January 15, 2025: https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nvss/vsrr/drug-overdose-data.htm

[6] Vanila M. Singh, et al., “The Emerging Role of Toxic Adulterants in Street Drugs in the US Illicit Opioid Crisis,” National Institutes of Health, November 18, 2019: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7119254/#:~:text=Mounting evidence suggests that overdoses,illicitly manufactured drugs of abuse.

[7] U.S. Department of Justice, Drug Enforcement Administration, “The Growing Threat of Xylazine and its Mixture with Illicit Drugs,” DEA Joint Intelligence Report, October 2022: https://www.dea.gov/sites/default/files/2022-12/The Growing Threat of Xylazine and its Mixture with Illicit Drugs.pdf 

Christopher R. Holstege, “Nitazenes are a powerful class of street drugs emerging across the US,” The Conversation, February 15, 2024: https://theconversation.com/nitazenes-are-a-powerful-class-of-street-drugs-emerging-across-the-us-222244

Stephen Liu, PhD, et al., “Trends in Nonfatal and Fatal Overdoses Involving Benzodiazepines – 38 States and the District of Columbia, 2019-2020,” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, August 27, 2021: https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/70/wr/mm7034a2.htm 

Chelsea L. Shover, et al., “Rapid emergence of UV stabilizer Bis(2,2,6,6-tetramethyl-4-piperidyl) sebacate (BTMPS) in the illicit fentanyl supply across the United States in July-August 2024: Results from drug and drug paraphernalia testing,” MedRxiv, September 16, 2024: https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2024.09.13.24313643v1 

[8] Nicholas C. Peiper, et al., “Fentanyl test strips as an opioid overdose prevention strategy: Findings from a syringe services program in the Southeastern United States,” International Journal of Drug Policy, vol 63, January 2019, pp 122-128: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0955395918302135

[9] Alyssa Shell Tilhou, et al., “Differences in drug use behaviors that impact overdose risk among individuals who do and do not use fentanyl test strips for drug checking,” Harm Reduction Journal, Vol 20, Article number 41, March 28, 2023: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s12954-023-00767-0; Maxwell S. Krieger, et al., “Use of rapid fentanyl test strips among young adults who use drugs,” International Journal of Drug Policy, Vol 16, November 2018, pp 52-58: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0955395918302469

[10] Susan G. Sherman, et al., “Acceptability of implementing community-based drug checking services for people who use drugs in three United States cities: Baltimore, Boston, and Providence,” International Journal of Drug Policy, Vol 68, June 2019, pp 46-53: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0955395919300568 

[11] Andis Robeznieks, “Harm-reduction efforts needed to curb overdose epidemic,” American Medical Association, Overdose Epidemic, November 15, 2022: https://www.ama-assn.org/delivering-care/overdose-epidemic/harm-reduction-efforts-needed-curb-overdose-epidemic

[12] Jan Hoffman, “Fentanyl Test Strips Highlight Rift in Nation’s Struggle to Combat Drug Deaths,” New York Times, October 1, 2022: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/01/health/fantanyl-test-strips.html