Fentanyl test strips could save lives, so advocates are handing them out

Fentanyl is almost unthinkably strong. The synthetic opioid is 50 times more potent than heroin and has contributed to a wave of fatal overdoses in LA County. But the risks are especially high in the LGBTQ community. One reason: it’s turning up as a hidden ingredient in party drugs used by club goers.

At Long Beach Pride recently, vendors at dozens of booths were passing out the typical fare -- free condoms and rainbow branded merchandise But Erick Fletes, who does outreach for the Los Angeles LGBT Center, was giving away something different this year: fentanyl test strips.

It was that chain of events that spurred the LGBT Center to start buying up thousands of fentanyl test strips and to look for places to distribute them. They circled Pride festivals on the calendar because it’s one place where casual drug users congregate.

“And as our CEO says just because someone chooses to party doesn’t mean that they should die," said Mike Rizzo, who heads the LGBT Center’s Meth Recovery Unit.