City of Laredo to explore possible wastewater-monitoring program to identify drug trends
LAREDO, TX. (KGNS) - The City of Laredo is looking into adding a new way to combat the use of illicit drugs.
This new approach aims to target areas that report high levels of drugs in their water supply.
In the past months, the city has implemented a series of harm reduction strategies to combat drug usage in our community.
This March, Laredo saw double the number of overdose deaths when compared to March of 2023.
The city has been in partnership with Biobot, a company contracted to monitor wastewater supply for infectious diseases. Now the city is hoping to add a second layer of screening.
According to Laredo Health Director Dr. Richard Chamberlain, the added level of screening would test wastewater for the use of high-risk drugs such as fentanyl.