SALT LAKE CITY — A proposal supporters say could cut down on the number of fentanyl overdose deaths in Utah passed a House committee on Friday.

Sponsored by freshman Sen. Jen Plumb, D-Salt Lake City, SB86 would remove fentanyl test strips from laws banning the use of drug paraphernalia. According to Plumb, her bill would decriminalize the use of test strips, with the goal of protecting drug users from unknowingly ingesting fentanyl, a dangerous synthetic opioid.

“The reality is that, unfortunately, the supply of substances that people have access to outside of pharmacies have fentanyl in them,” she said. “It took a while for fentanyl to get here to Utah, but it is absolutely here now.”

Before being elected to the Senate, Plumb co-founded Utah Naloxone, an advocacy group that helps distribute kits that can reverse overdoses caused by opioids. She called her bill a “common sense solution,” the likes of which has already been taken up by lawmakers in New Mexico, Ohio, Texas, Wisconsin, Alabama and Tennessee, among others.

Read the full story here: KSL News.

Written by BRIDGER BEAL-CVETKO, KSL.com.