AUSTIN, Texas — Lying in front of the Texas Capitol, Lisa Wheeler and her family took part in a “die-in” to remember those lost to overdoses. They were there to remember Spencer Wheeler, their son and brother, who died at 17 after taking fentanyl.

“It’s just devastating. So this just happened in September, so it’s really fresh,” Wheeler said through tears. 

Spencer’s family says he was a victim of a sex crime and started using drugs at 12. 

“How do you cope with that as a child? It’s really, really difficult,” Wheeler said. 

He was in private counseling for years, but when he came to his parents asking for help with his opioid addiction, they couldn’t find a detox program for minors. When they took him to the hospital, he was sent home with withdrawal medication. There was no medical detox available for him.

“There’s really just not a good, safe, medical detox for these kids to land,” Wheeler said. 

The Wheelers were surrounded by other families and friends who have lost loved ones. They gathered to ask lawmakers for help.

They want them to legalize fentanyl test strips, make the opioid treatment NARCAN free and accessible, expand Medicaid to fund over 15 days per month for substance abuse treatment, and create better treatment centers for minors. 

Addressing the overdose crisis has bipartisan support. Several bills have been filed in the House and Senate to legalize fentanyl test strips. Sen. Royce West, D-Dallas, filed Senate Bill 868.

"I'm spending my political time here in Austin during the 88th legislative session in order to get this passed, with the hope of being able to save lives," he said.

Rep. Lujan, R-San Antonio, has filed a similar bill, HB 1018, with the same goal.

“It's our responsibility as leaders of Texas to put these things on the forefront and say, 'Enough's enough,'” Rep. Lujan said. 

In addition to legalizing fentanyl test strips, Rep. Lujan said the federal government needs to step up and secure the border to stop the suppliers.

“Our economy needs to keep moving," Rep. Lujan said. "We need the workers. We need migrant people, but in an orderly fashion. The way it is now, we've enabled the cartels to just flood our markets with this fentanyl, and [it's] killing our citizens.” 

During his State of the State address last week, Gov. Greg Abbott made combatting the fentanyl crisis one of his top priorities in this legislative session. And, he said last year that he wants to legalize test strips “so that people will be able to test drugs at home to know whether or not it might be laced with Fentanyl.” 

Now, Democrats and Republicans are trying to get a bill to the governor’s desk.

“In 2022, we had over a thousand fentanyl deaths in the state of Texas,” Sen. West said. “I’m thinking that it’s not going to get better; it’s going to get worse. And from that vantage point, we need to do everything in our power to put in place testing so people can have a better idea of what in the world they’re taking for recreational purposes or otherwise.” 

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