A bill to legalize drug test strips passed both chambers last week.
A drug test strip is a small strip of paper that can detect the presence of cutting agents, like fentanyl, in all different kinds of drugs.
Under the current state code, drug testing strips are considered drug paraphernalia. This means someone who is found in possession of drugs can be additionally charged for possession of drug paraphernalia if they have drug testing strips.
Senate Bill 269 removes drug testing strips from the state’s list of drug paraphernalia. It passed the Senate on Tuesday and the House of Delegates on Friday. The bill has gone to Gov. Jim Justice’s desk for his signature.
Lawmakers passed a similar bill in 2022, exempting testing strips that detect fentanyl from that statute. House Bill 4373 went into effect in June of that year.
Proponents of the bill like Iris Sidikman (they/them), harm reduction program director for the Women’s Health Center in Charleston, say it could save lives.
They said while the fentanyl testing strips have been useful, the newest cutting agent, xylazine is the most requested test strip. Under current state law, it would be illegal for the clinic to distribute xylazine tests.
“The most immediate thing that this legislation would allow is for us to distribute xylazine test strips, which many people have asked me about here at the clinic as part of our Harm Reduction Program. People are interested in them,” Sidikman said.
According to the Bureau for Public Health’s Drug Overdose Mortality report, in 2021 fentanyl and fentanyl analogs were involved in 76 percent of all drug overdose deaths occurring in West Virginia, up from 58 percent in 2017.
According to a June 2023 report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) brief, in 2021, the highest rate of drug overdose deaths involving xylazine occurred in Region 3, which includes Delaware, the District of Columbia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia.
Fentanyl was the most frequently co-occurring drug mentioned on xylazine death records between 2018 and 2021.
Sidikman said people knowing what is in their drugs allows them to use more safely and better respond to overdoses around them.
“I think that they allow people to make better, more informed decisions about their health and what they do with their bodies and I think that that’s a good thing,” Sidikman said.
Sidikman said the harm reduction program aims to provide people with the tools necessary to stay healthy and safe while they navigate their lives.
“Whether or not they choose to end their substance use, reduce their substance use whatever they choose,” Sidikman said. “In order for people to be able to make positive changes in their life, they have to be alive.”
Sen. Eric Tarr, R-Putnam, was the only legislator to vote against Senate Bill 269.
“So in spite of all the efforts that we’ve made on these enablement measures, and that’s what I see, this is just, it’s another enablement feel-good measure,” Tarr said. “We are seeing still an escalation of our population that is using drugs and being significantly harmed by them.”
Tarr said he wants West Virginia to be the last place someone would want to use or sell drugs.
“West Virginia ought to be the absolute worst place in the country to be involved in the drug industry, illicit drug industry,” Tarr said. “This should be the absolute last place in the world you want to come to do drugs, sell drugs, be busted for drugs, and frankly, for rehab, because our rehab has been an abysmal failure.”
Sidikman said the legalization of all drug testing strips would allow them and their team to stay ahead and the newest cutting agents.
“If there is a new drug that enters the supply that we that testing strips are developed for, we would automatically be able to give those out and we wouldn’t have to wait and go back to the legislature and get those legalized before being able to give them out,” Sidikman said.
Appalachia Health News is a project of West Virginia Public Broadcasting with support from Charleston Area Medical Center and Marshall Health.
It’s not just about notebooks and pencil boxes anymore: the opioid epidemic means back-to-school supplies now include things like emergency overdose treatments and drug prevention plans.
Many schools in the Ohio Valley region are using random drug testing despite doubts from addiction treatment experts about whether the tests really work to deter abuse.
On a recent Friday night, the Belpre High School football team made the trip to face Trimble in the second week of high school football.
Among the team leaders are Logan Racy and Aric Ross, who are both in their senior seasons.
Credit Aaron Payne / Ohio Valley ReSource
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Ohio Valley ReSource
Belpre, Ohio, High School football team leaders Logan Racy (left) and Aric Ross (right). A teammate died from a heroin overdose two years ago.
Taking on the role means being good role models on and off the field, according to Ross. And that includes remaining opioid free.
“Practicing with these guys everyday, you get really close. You’re all friends, it’s a brotherhood. You don’t want to let the other person down,” he said. “You don’t want to be the person that got busted for drugs.”
Racy agreed, and said the love of the game is a good deterrent.
“If you have a passion for the sport and a love for it, you’re going to stay away from that stuff.”
The two are not alone. A recent study from the Journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics found students who participate in extracurricular activities were less likely than their peers to have long-term opioid use disorders.
This doesn’t mean student athletes are immune to the dangers of opioid abuse, as Racy and Ross understand
“The morning of the practice when coach broke the news, we were all very surprised and shocked,” Racy said. “It was heartbreaking.”
The death was hard for the students and the educators working in the Belpre City Schools system.
“To lose a kid to anything is tragic,” superintendent Tony Dunn said. “To lose a kid to something as preventable as an overdose, an accidental overdose, is devastating.”
Credit Aaron Payne / Ohio Valley ReSource
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Ohio Valley ReSource
Belpre City Schools superintendent Tony Dunn hopes drug testing can help avoid another tragedy.
A committee of adults joined student athletes like Logan Racy in response to the tragedy and established a random drug testing policy. Middle- and high-schoolers involved in extracurricular activities or who drive to school are tested.
Students who violate the program are given up to three strikes. Upon each infraction, the student is brought in for counseling and faces increasing punishments from suspension from extracurricular activities up to a ban on participation.
The program may not keep every child from abusing opioids, but Dunn said the schools needed a way to reach the kids suffering from addiction. And by providing treatment and counseling for those students rather than expelling them, they hope to prevent the next tragedy.
“The ultimate success will be none of our kids will die from accidental overdose,” he said.
“Give Me A Reason”
Another drug prevention program in West Virginia also uses drug testing kits but hands the responsibility of administering them to the parents.
The office of the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of West Virginia set up a booth at a recent match-up between the reigning AAA division champions in Wheeling Park and the reigning AA division champions Bridgeport as part of the “Give Me A Reason” program.
U.S. Attorney Bill Ihlenfeld helped pass out the saliva-based kits –which are funded through the federal Appalachian High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area program– to parents as a means to give kids a reason to reject drugs.
“They can honestly look their peer in the eye, their teammate, their quote-unquote friend and tell them ‘I can’t use that because my parents drug test me,’” he said.
Credit Aaron Payne / Ohio Valley ReSource
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Ohio Valley ReSource
U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of West Virginia Bill Ihlenfeld encourages parents to test kids at home.
The tests are also meant to start a conversation. The Partnership for a Drug-Free America claimed in 2008 that “teens who learn a lot about the risks of drugs at home are up to 50 percent less likely to use.”
Since the program’s inception in 2014 for the four Appalachia HIDTA states (Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia) West Virginia has handed out approximately 2,500 of the total 7,000 kits distributed.
But as those tests appear in more homes and schools, there are big questions about what effect they have.
“It Just Doesn’t Work”
Dr. Steven Matson, Chief of Adolescent Medicine at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, is among those who oppose the use of drug testing outside of medical settings.
“People have looked at that random drug testing and it just doesn’t work,” he said. “You might get somebody to be careful if they’re an athlete, which isn’t a terrible message. Often by the time you’re getting to high school, patterns are already set.”
Many pediatricians agree and the American Academy of Pediatrics repeatedly calls for drug testing only in medical situations. The Society points to studies on school testing programs which haveshownmixedresults.
Matson also runs an addiction clinic at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, working with clients aged 14 into the late teens.
Credit Alexandra Kanik / Ohio
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Ohio Valley ReSource
Drawing on his experience with teenagers, he said he believes that parenting a child is a better way to keep them drug-free than drug testing them.
“You might make your kids crabby for a little while. But that’s your job as a parent to not always be their best friend.”
Researchers for the Journal of Psychiatric Studies last year found children who receive direct involvement from their parents are less likely to abuse opioids.
When asked for his “best practices” at home for parents, Matson’s recommendations include the following:
Set the expectation of a drug-free lifestyle for the child and clearly state that.
Have conversations about drug abuse based in love, rather than fear.
Get to know the child’s friends.
Make a point to spend time together as a family.
Offer the child unconditional love.
Do No Harm
Matson said the medical community also plays a role in limiting access to the opioids children might abuse, especially prescription painkillers.
His colleague Sharon Wrona, Administrative Director of Pain Management at the hospital, works to develop best practices when it comes to treating young patients with opioids.
“If we’re prescribing opioids, certainly you need to weigh the benefits and the risks,” Wrona said. “And you need to see if it’s appropriate for that type of pain.”
Credit Aaron Payne / Ohio Valley ReSource
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Ohio Valley ReSource
Sharon Wrona (left) is Administrative Director of Pain Management at National Children’s Hospital in Columbus.
Environment, previous medical history, and family history with opioids are just some of the factors physicians are paying closer attention to.
To keep opioid prescriptions at a minimum, physicians are first recommending treatments such as aromatherapy, physical therapy, and acupuncture.
Teaching children and their parents to manage pain at home is also a priority for Wrona’s team. She said one of the more effective lessons comes through gamification.
“We can hook them up to a machine that has a sensor, and it measures their body temperature and their sweat and things like that,” she explained. “There’s, like, a game in there and it shows them they can move through the game if they’re relaxing and using the techniques that we taught them.”
Promising Trends
Statistics show these efforts might be paying off.
In Ohio, the number of solid opioid doses distributed by doctors in 2015 fell by 81 million between compared to 2011, according to new data released by the state’s Department of Health.
Most experts believe if enough resources go toward proven prevention and treatment programs, healthy children will grow into adults with a better shot at ending the epidemic.
The House of Delegates passed a bill Wednesday that would require drug testing for recipients of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families.
Senate Bill 6 passed 91 to 8 in the House. The bill requires the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources to apply for permission from the federal government to begin a drug screening and testing program.
In that program, applicants for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, or TANF, benefits could be tested if there’s “reasonable suspicion” those applicants are using drugs or if they’ve been convicted of a drug crime in the past three years.
The bill creates a three strike system within the program. After one failed drug test, the TANF recipient does not lose any benefits, but must enter a rehabilitative or workforce training program. After the second failed test, the recipient loses benefits for one year or until completion of the workforce or rehabilitative program. After a third failed test, he or she loses benefits for life.
In any step in the process, the benefits given to children in the home will not be taken away. The DHHR is required to find another adult to distribute the benefits to, just like they do in other programs.
Those in opposition to the bill argue it’s singling out low-income people, while those in support say it will help those who struggle with drug abuse and ensure state dollars are being used honestly.
Democrats attempted to amend the bill on Tuesday evening, however all four proposed amendments were rejected or ruled not relevant to the bill.
The bill did see two amendments from the House Judiciary Committee, so the bill will go back to the Senate for consideration before being sent to the Governor’s desk.
In a recent poll of likely West Virginia voters, 77 percent supported drug testing welfare recipients.
The House of Delegates will vote on a bill Wednesday that would require drug testing for recipients of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families.
Senate Bill 6 requires the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources to apply for permission from the federal government to begin a drug screening and testing program.
In that program, applicants for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families or TANF benefits could be tested if there’s “reasonable suspicion” those applicants are using drugs or if they’ve been convicted of a drug crime in the past three years.
The bill creates a three strike system within the program. After one failed drug test, the TANF recipient does not lose any benefits, but must enter a rehabilitative or workforce training program. After the second failed test, the recipient loses benefits for one year or until completion of the workforce or rehabilitative program. After a third failed test, he or she loses benefits for life.
In any step in the process, the benefits given to children in the home will not be taken away. The DHHR is required to find another adult to distribute the benefits to, just like they do in other programs.
Delegates considered four amendments to the bill during a floor session Tuesday night. All four amendments were proposed by Democrats.
1. The first amendment would have removed marijuana from the list of drugs that could cause an applicant to lose his or her benefits. This bill was rejected.
The second and third amendments were ruled not relevant to the bill —
2. The second amendment would have required state lawmakers to be drug tested. If a legislator would have failed that test, he or she would have been required to enter a drug treatment program and would lose their pay.
3. The third amendment would have expanded the drug testing program beyond just those who are applying for TANF benefits to any person who is applying for funding from the state, including the officers of private companies.
But both amendments were ruled not relevant by House Speaker Tim Armstead.
4. The final amendment considered would have required the DHHR to obtain a warrant for the drug test from a judge. However, this amendment was also rejected.
Senate Bill 6 will be up for a vote in the House Wednesday.
A recent poll of likely West Virginia voters found 77 percent supported drug testing welfare recipients.
A House committee has passed a bill that would require drug testing for recipients of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families.
Senate Bill 6 requires the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources to apply for permission from the federal government to begin a drug screening and testing program.
In that program, applicants of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families or TANF benefits could be tested if there’s “reasonable suspicion” those applicants are using drugs or if they’ve been convicted of a drug crime in the past five years. But House Judiciary Chairman John Shott said that provision was amended in his committee.
“And that was with regard to the screening instrument that the Department of Health and Human Resources will be using when new applicants come in, and it just changed the timeframe within which to look for previous drug use from five years to, shortened that to three years,” Shott said.
A recent poll of likely West Virginia voters found 77 percent of voters supported drug testing welfare recipients.
Senate Bill 6 was reported to the full House on Saturday and will likely see a vote Wednesday.
The debate over drug testing public assistance recipients was revisited in an interim session Monday. One of the issues on the table is how to make a pilot program work without costing the state additional dollars that are hard to come by.
The Legislative Oversight Commission on Health and Human Resources Accountability met at the Capitol Monday to continue their discussion on a possible pilot program that would drug test public assistance recipients.
“A lot of people are interested in us having the testing program as one tool to decrease drug abuse in the state,” said Delegate Joe Ellington, a Republican from Mercer County and the chairman of the committee, “I, as a practicing obstetrician, see a lot of babies being born to drugs.”
Ellington says this is where many substance abuse problems start. The babies are born addicted to drugs and could either develop behavioral issues, or become more prone to addictive behaviors in the future.
“The current structure we have to help prevention and training and teaching and rehabilitation does not seem to be solving the problem. We’re not opposed to any of those parts. We want to try to enhance those efforts to decrease drug use, but we’re looking at other ways of identifying who is using drugs, so we can get them into programs.”
At the forefront of the discussion Monday were two bills introduced during the 2015 legislative session.
Senate Bill 348 would’ve created a pilot program for drug screening of cash assistance recipients. House Bill 2021 would’ve implemented drug testing for recipients of federal-state and other state assistance dollars.
While both bills had minor differences, what they did have in common was a requirement to drug test based on reasonable suspicion.
At the end of the 2015 session however, both bills were left on the table.
Now lawmakers are reconsidering the issue for the 2016 session.
The committee posed a few questions to the Department of Health and Human Resources and the Bureau for Public Health. They discussed the anticipated cost of target type enforcements on specific populations, the impact on pregnant women who abuse illicit drugs, and what happens to someone after they’ve tested positive for an illegal substance.
Lawmakers were trying to get a sense of how to potentially re-draft legislation that died last year.
But the question still stands – is drug screening of people in state assistance programs constitutional? And would it actually save the state money by implementing these kinds of tests?
Delegate Ellington thinks there’s a good chance.
“Data I received from DHHR previously, a couple years ago, said the average cost for detox was $230,000 a kid,” he said, “That’s a lot of money that could go back to our schools, to teacher pay, to education, to other services, to rehab, and then you look at the lost productivity and the livelihood of those kids and the future to grow up into, and that’s what we’re looking at – the future of our kids in West Virginia altogether.”
However, Sean O’Leary, a policy analyst at the West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy, says the facts show otherwise – many states that have implemented screening programs in the hopes of saving money, haven’t seen the results.
“Policies like this has really two goals, one to curb substance abuse and two to save state money by not paying people who are using drugs, but when you look at what other states have gone through it’s failed to achieve either one of those goals,” O’Leary said.
Thirteen states have passed legislation to drug test or screen public assistance applicants or recipients, and as of July 2015, at least 18 states have proposed legislation requiring some form of drug testing or screening.
West Virginia is one of those eighteen states.
“Under 1 percent of applicants are testing positive when they do, do these tests, so they’re not saving significant amounts of money,” O’Leary explained, “In some cases, they’re actually spending more money administering and collecting these results or these tests, then they are actually saving money from stopping people from using drugs and collecting assistance.”
O’Leary says there’s a misconception that drug abuse is more prevalent among low income people, when actually substance abuse can affect all walks of life.
Delegate Ellington says he knows finding the right legislation won’t be easy.
“The Senate one was looking at three counties as a smaller group to cut down the expense. The other, the House bill, looks at people that have a higher suspicion of drug use, whether they’ve had a previous conviction, or the children were born addicted to drugs, we know that those are positives, so that’s where the higher suspicion is. We want to just target that part. Will you miss some others, yes, but we’re looking at the numbers, we’re trying to decrease the number of testing that has to be done, and look at the number of individuals we can get back off. So there’s no great way to do it, but we’re trying to make an effort to.”
Next month, the committee on Health and Human Resources Accountability will likely begin to draft legislation that could become the new drug testing bill of 2016.
