CLEARWATER, Fla. — Fentanyl test strips are now legal in the state of Florida.

Gov. Ron DeSantis signed the bill to decriminalize them last week, and the legislation took effect over the weekend.

For just a couple of bucks a test, a person can find out if what they are about to use has fentanyl in it.

Considering nearly 8,000 people died of a drug overdose statewide last year, addiction specialists say any help is welcome. 

The test takes just minutes.

William Atkinson, founder of the Recovery Epicenter in Clearwater, showed Spectrum News how it works.

“Imagine that this has your substance in it,” he said. “All you would want to do is take a small amount of it into a tablespoon. Add a small amount of water to it and then put the fentanyl testing strip into that water.”

One line is positive for fentanyl; two lines means negative. Up until just days ago, the kit itself was considered drug paraphernalia under Florida law. 

“If you were found with this, this would be an additional charge for any type of drug use or drug misuse here in the state of Florida,” Atkinson said.

But the bipartisan passage of Senate Bill 164 changed that in what some would consider a progressive move for the conservative legislature.

“Fentanyl test strips don’t make people do drugs,” said Rep. Christine Hunschofsky, who represents District 95. “They don’t stop people from doing drugs. They stop people from dying. And that’s the goal.”

The strategy is known as harm reduction.

Atkinson, who is a recovering addict himself, utilizes the approach at his center which he started after he got clean and sober.  

He compares the test strips to narcan, which his volunteers handed out during spring break to businesses all over Clearwater Beach.

“When narcan is applied, when fentanyl testing strips are applied, when any harm reduction method is applied, they have an opportunity to survive another day from this terminal illness,” Atkinson said.

Living another day means another chance at recovery. That’s something that Atkinson stresses, because he’s been there himself. It just takes that one time to seek resources that could change the course of a person’s life.

While the test strips aren’t fool proof, they are another tool that could give you that chance.

The latest data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows Florida ranks second in the nation behind California for drug overdose deaths.

One hundred thousand people died nationwide from overdoses in 2021. The tests can also be ordered online.