Overview
- SAMHSA told grantees in a new letter that its funds cannot be used to buy $1 test strips that let people check powders and pills for fentanyl, xylazine, or medetomidine.
- The agency cited a 2025 executive order from President Trump that bars funding for programs it says only facilitate illegal drug use.
- Harm reduction groups report immediate losses, with the Kentucky Harm Reduction Coalition losing a $400,000 grant and saying it has about one month of test strips left, and a South Carolina nonprofit losing $4,000.
- Public health advocates say cutting access to simple drug-checking tools will make it harder for people to avoid lethal contaminants and could reduce the reach of already thin local programs.
- The policy clashes with state practice and prior federal guidance, since 45 states and Washington, D.C., do not treat test strips as paraphernalia and SAMHSA listed them as allowable as recently as July 2025, while CDC data show overdose deaths fell to about 68,000 for the year ending November 2025 from 111,000 in 2023.