Experts in the News

With Abbott’s support for fentanyl test strips, Texas could soon make them legal. “Test strips are not going to prevent every single overdose,” drug policy fellow Katharine Neill Harris said, “[but] if they prevent one overdose, then that makes them worth it.”

 

 

“It’s important to both educate individuals about the risks [of fentanyl] and also provide resources for people so they can figure out what they’re taking,” fellow Katharine Neill Harris told Houston Chronicle about the “immediate threat” of continued overdoses.

 

 

With support from TX Gov. Greg Abbott and Republicans, the legalization of fentanyl test strips could help minimize the opioid crisis. Fellow Katharine Neill Harris said that this “signals that if we get this passed, it’s not going to necessarily get vetoed.”

As local Texas leaders stall cannabis decriminalization due to potential retribution from state lawmakers, Baker Drug Policy's Katharine Neill Harris said claims that marijuana reforms lead to more crimes are not supported by evidence.

“I think the exceptionalism that has been carved out around cannabis has been extended to psychedelics," said drug policy fellow Katharine Neill Harris. But, she noted, “access will come first to people with money." As a result, “decriminalization is still very, very critical. Whether or not people should be using them for their health is a separate question from whether or not they should get in legal trouble for it.”