A top state official believes that progress is being made in the fight to reduce drug overdoses but there is still more work to be done.
Pennsylvania Auditor General Eugene DePasquale would like to specifically remind residents about the dangers of fentanyl.
It is my job to eliminate financial costs of critically important topics like this one,” DePasquale said. “My 16-page report offers three observations and ten r”ecommendations on ways to help improve the fight against fentanyl.”
According to DePasquale, fentanyl has such a far-reaching impact that determining an actual total cost to taxpayers is nearly impossible.
DePasquale maintains that the state cannot win this fight on its own. The chain of events that ends with an overdose usually begins outside the country.
Law enforcement agency are forced to deal with the ramifications of a sophisticated international drug raid that brings most of the fentanyl into the country through the mail system,” DePasquale said.
DePasquale urged the use of fentanyl test strips to determine if drugs contain fentanyl before they are used. These strips are currently illegal in Pennsylvania because they are considered drug paraphernalia.