As of Jan. 1, after former Gov. Tom Wolf amended Pennsylvania’s drug laws last year, the state legislature legalized the use and possession of fentanyl test strips, WHYY reported. The new change in legislation expands the accessibility of strips so all residents can legally receive them by mail.
On Jan. 23, Temple announced a $1 million increase to the health and wellness division’s budget after recommendations from the Task Force on Mental Health and Wellness.
Although it’s important for Temple to invest in wellness resources, a critical component was left out: accessibility for harm reduction resources to prevent accidental drug overdoses. As Temple expands funding for health initiatives, supplying harm reduction resources like Narcan and fentanyl testing strips, must be included.
Most of the funding is being used to retain existing clinicians and psychiatrists, increase staffing and create a counseling center on the Health Sciences campus, said Andrew Lee, the director of Tuttleman Counseling Services. Temple may supply harm reduction resources in the future as the task force is still in the early steps of their initiative.
In 2021, Philadelphia Department of Public Health warned that counterfeit pills could be pressed with fentanyl, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported.
Fentanyl is about 80 times as potent as morphine and hundreds of times more potent than heroin, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Xylazine, an animal tranquilizer, is used with fentanyl but resistant to Narcan because it’s a sedative, according to the CDC.
College students experience accidental overdoses because they’re unknowingly using drugs that are cut with fentanyl, said Adam Al-Asad, the director of operations at Savage Sisters Recovery, a Philadelphia non-profit aiding those affected by substance use disorder.
Many college students use Adderall, and counterfeit pills are often being cut with fentanyl, increasing the chances of an unintentional overdose, Bloomberg reported.
“The solution to that is incredibly simple, obvious and inexpensive, it’s fentanyl test strips,” Al-Asad said. “The fact that Temple isn’t handing them out and the fact that you just told me that you have a hard time getting test strips on a college campus is blatant negligence on the part of the college campus.”
Drugs containing fentanyl resulted in 77 percent of all 2021 unintentional overdose fatalities, while more than 90 percent of Philadelphia’s lab-tested heroin was positive for xylazine, according to the city’s health department.
Temple’s Wellness and Resource Center hosts Narcan training and outreach with organizations like NEXT Distro, a non-profit harm reduction agency, wrote Maddie Bavis, a mental well-being program coordinator for the Wellness Resource Center, in an email to The Temple News.
While Temple’s Wellness and Resource Center organizes events and outreach opportunities with harm reduction organizations like Philadelphia Department of Health, Savage Sisters and the Everywhere Project, they do not train students on Narcan use or offer supplies directly. The center doesn’t want students to inadvertently reveal they are violating the university’s alcohol and drug policy by requesting testing strips from the office, wrote Liz Zadnik, The Associate Director of the Wellness Resource Center, in an email to The Temple News.
“I definitely think it’s something that could be discussed, and that would be definitely within the purview of not only that task force, but this new unit, to be concerned about it,” Berman said.
The new unit is the Health and Well-being Division, bringing together the Student and Employee Health Services, Tuttleman Counseling Services and the Wellness Resource Center, thus improving wellness resources for students.
When a client came into the Everywhere Project, a Philadelphia-based non-profit for wound care and harm reduction, claiming he took counterfeit Adderall, tests revealed the drug contained illicit and harmful methamphetamines, said Shannon Ashe, the co-founder of the Everywhere Project.
“For college students, they’re at a greater risk of engaging in substance use so it’s important for them to be empowered with the tools and the information they need to make decisions in an informed way and in the safest way that they can,” Ashe said.
As Philadelphia experiences an increased supply of illicit drugs, more students are exposed to potentially ingesting fentanyl and xylazine. The university can prevent accidental overdoses by increasing harm reduction resources with fentanyl testing strips.
CORRECTION: A previous version of this story mischaracterized Temple’s ability to provide harm reduction products due to the university’s drug and alcohol policy.
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