Fentanyl Free Communities is the only public advocacy organization in the State of Minnesota focused exclusively on the public health and public safety crisis resulting from the fentanyl epidemic. We applaud the work of organizations throughout Minnesota that holistically address the issues of chemical dependency through harm reduction, treatment, education, and advocacy. We also believe that policymakers must place a priority on efforts to save lives lost to fentanyl and must take actions specifically focused on this public health emergency. 

Our agenda is divided into three specific areas. Our Leadership Agenda includes priorities that FFC will initiate and lead. Our Support Agenda includes priorities that have been or will be led by other allies with specific support from FFC. Our Implementation Agenda will call on local and state agencies to fully implement available tools where legislative action is not necessary. 

ADVOCACY AGENDA

FFC advocates for the following policies and will provide leadership to enact the following legislation: 

1. FFC supports fully funding a statewide naloxone/Narcan program. This program should streamline the provision of lifesaving Narcan to law enforcement, social service agencies, and nonprofit organizations and should be independent of the OERAC or county funding through opioid settlement funds. 

2. FFC advocates for immediate, comprehensive, and effective implementation of the legislative mandate in Minnesota Statutes 120B.215, which requires the incorporation of fentanyl awareness training and harm and overdose prevention education in health education curriculum to commence in the 2026-2027 school year. 

3. FFC supports an integrated statewide system to collect more accurate and complete information on overdoses, overdose deaths, and local trends. This integrated system should include improved coordination with Medical Examiner’s Offices and local law enforcement so that death scenarios are assessed more promptly. Specific strategies must include required data sharing between state and local agencies. making nonfatal overdoses a reportable condition and increasing statutory support for Overdose Fatality Reviews (OFRs). 

4. FFC supports funding for law enforcement agencies implementing diversion programs through the Police Assisted Addiction and Recovery Initiative (PAARI). FFC supports programs that facilitate direct entry into treatment programs in lieu of jail for low-level drug offenses involving fentanyl. 

SUPPORT AGENDA

FFC will support the following initiatives by partnering with lead law enforcement organizations and PAARI: 

1. FFC supports funding for law enforcement agencies implementing diversion programs through the Police Assisted Addiction and Recovery Initiative (PAARI). FFC supports programs that facilitate direct entry into treatment programs in lieu of jail for low-level drug offenses involving fentanyl. 

    

2. FFC supports the following policies adopted by the Opioid Epidemic Response Advisory Committee 

a. Permanent reimbursement to telehealth services for SUD and Behavioral Health. 

b. Ongoing need for detox facilities throughout the state, especially in rural areas. 

c. Require MOUD access prior to reentry addresses a critical treatment gap for incarcerated individuals. 

d. Expanding SUD 1115 Waiver pilot, which allows incarcerated individuals to access Medicaid 90 days before reentry into the community, facilitating medical planning and providing 30-day prescriptions. 

e. Ensuring consistency between treatment in prisons and reentry programs by removing buprenorphine from the restricted recipient program to allow emergency departments and hospitals to provide this medication to patients with OUD and by authorizing emergency medical services (EMS) to administer and dispense buprenorphine products (FDA-approved for OUD) after reversing an opioid overdose in the field. 

f. Removal of prior authorization (PA) requirements for all FDA-approved treatments for substance use disorders. 

3. Ensuring that legislation requiring Narcan in schools is fully implemented. 

4. Increased funding for treatment programs and a decrease in waiting times for entry into treatment. 

5. Funding and availability of opioid and controlled substance “detox” facilities.