Fentanyl Testing Strips Will be Available in Some Wisconsin Vending Machines

BAYFIELD, Wisc. — The government is expanding its efforts to battle the nation’s drug problem and help users.

One approach is to make it easier for users to test their drugs to see if it has fentanyl. Illegally produced fentanyl can be impure or doses can be unpredictable.

Wisconsin announced Thursday they are making more vending machines available with kits to test drugs for fentanyl.

Bayfield County applied for funds and was awarded enough money for two machines.

One of the machines will be in Bayfield, and the other in Iron River. They will be in public places and stocked with test strips that drug users can use to see if their drugs have fentanyl. The vending machines will also have NARCAN–a medication that can reverse an opioid overdose. Both items will be free.

DHS Deputy Secretary Deb Standridge said, “This is about making fentanyl test strips and NARCAN® accessible to the people who need it the most, where they’re already at, on their schedule and their timeline, with no questions asked.”

Thursday was International Overdose Awareness Day.