H.R. 1561
ALERT Communities Act
Sponsor: Jasmine Crockett · 1 cosponsor
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Official summary
Written by the Congressional Research Service.
Advancing Lifesaving Efforts with Rapid Test strips for Communities Act or the ALERT Communities Act
This bill establishes programs and requirements to advance the development and usage of test strips that detect the presence of certain hazardous drugs (e.g., fentanyl, xylazine).
Currently, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration provides grants to government entities to train and provide authorized equipment to first responders and other relevant personnel for emergency treatment of opioid overdoses. The bill expands these grants to include rapid response test strips for detecting the presence of fentanyl, xylazine, and other synthetic opioids or emerging substances in people or within other drugs.
Additionally, the bill requires the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to publish guidance and standards for test strip manufacturers to support the development, evaluation, and authorization of test strips.
Also, HHS must conduct a study and report to Congress on how the availability and usage of test strips and similar equipment impacts the frequency of overdoses and participation in substance use disorder treatment.
Text of the bill
In this Act, the term test strip means a rapid response, single use diagnostic that can be used to detect the adulteration of a drug with, or the presence in a human specimen of, any substance that may lead to increased morbidity or mortality, such as fentanyl, xylazine, or another synthetic opioid or emerging substance.