Gov. Janet Mills says she'll dedicate one million dollars to buy and distribute xylazine test strips. Fentanyl mixed with xylazine was connected to 11% of Maine overdose deaths in the first five months of the year. That's up from 6% last year.
The drug is a non-opioid animal tranquilizer, and is not approved for humans. When mixed with fentanyl, the drugs become more deadly, and overdoses cannot be treated with Narcan.
"People also need to be able to recognize and provide effective care for wounds from this drug," Mills said. "This drug truly maims and disfigures people. So our first focus is on saving lives."
As part of the funding, the Office of Behavioral Health will also add nine peer outreach workers to support high-risk populations.
