-Avier Wanjou-Brass-

Cousins!

In response to the alarming statistics of fentanyl overdoses across the country a group of college students at USC, are passing out fentanyl testing strips to prevent future fatal instances!

Students at the University of Southern California (USC) created an initiative to minimize the incidence of drug overdoses. Founded in 2020, the initiative dubbed Team Awareness Combating Overdose (TACO) distributes thousands of fentanyl test strips throughout college campuses within California, reports Yahoo!. 

The initiative TACO was created after a dozen of students died from fentanyl poisoning in the last few years. The program has reportedly began shipping to schools all over the country.

https://twitter.com/NBCNightlyNews/status/1524181698719760384?s=20&t=zZIOPj7gT2Te42Z7jsFqag 

“Our goal is to remove any and all barriers so that you have absolutely no reason not to be testing your drugs,” co-founder Madeline Hilliard noted.

“Fentanyl is a big deal because you can take it accidentally,” co-founder Jack Elliott said. “There could be a couple grains of sand-sized amounts of fentanyl in your drug, and that can kill you.”

https://twitter.com/TACOINC_/status/1524243620781453312?s=20&t=z9KGBMdYk5RBlzRlNweGuw 

The initiative comes after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently released data suggesting that 2021 overdose deaths were the highest level n record. 

In addition, Los Angeles pledged to distribute 50,000 boxes of Narcan (aka Naloxone). Narcan is used to reverse the effects of opioid overdose. 

TACO and other organizations are selling the testing stripes for free, and you can also purchase them at selected retailers. 

Cousins, what are your thoughts on the testing strips?

( 📸: ISTOCK.COM/DARWIN BRANDIS )