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	Podcast:		Maine Things Considered
	Episode:		Maine Health Advocates Debate Effectiveness Of Testing Strips For Fentanyl
	Category:		Government & Organizations
	Duration:		00:03:58
	Publish Date:		2018-05-08 16:30:44
	Description:		A urine test could become another tool in the fight to reduce opioid overdose deaths in Maine. The test screens for fentanyl, a synthetic opioid that caused more than half of the 418 drug overdose deaths in the state last year. Some health advocates say the test can be used to check drugs before they’re injected, but others say it’s an unscientific method that could actually cause harm. With fentanyl responsible for an increasing number of overdose deaths in the state, the highly potent synthetic opioid is a concern for people like Maddy Magnuson, the director of harm reduction at the Health Equity Alliance, which has locations in northern Maine. Magnuson says drugs like heroin and cocaine are often laced with fentanyl because it’s cheap, but the people who buy these drugs can be unaware. “They wouldn’t necessarily know that, unless they were testing their supply,” she says. That’s why the Health Equity Alliance is considering distributing tests that would allow people to check before
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