The comedian recently posted an update on her journey back to normal, suggesting she was getting some sort of rehab done down in Mexico ... where she thanked everyone who'd helped her thus far get back to the old Kate everyone knows and loves.

It's an encouraging sign for sure -- but the deaths of Fuquan Johnson, Rico Angeli and Natalie Williamson still linger ... and with the advent of fentanyl strips -- which have been on the market for at least a couple years or so -- it makes one wonder if they could've made a difference here.

If you're unfamiliar ... these strips come exactly as advertised. They're able to be applied to just about any drug and like a litmus test ... can tell you if the narcotics have the opioid or not. While not always 100% effective, they do seem to work more often than not ... and are sometimes distributed to drug users. Although, not nearly as much as they should be.

Whether it's simply a lack of awareness or a taboo issue ... you really don't hear about these strips being talked about. And yet, they're out there ... and can absolutely save lives.

In fact, USC students have recently started to dabble in this ... forming a delivery service specifically for this -- among other drug resources -- to help protect the "naïve drug user." The strips are only a penny a pop, so they're certainly affordable ... and now widely available to students on campus who may be experimenting.

That's California ... but it looks like there are a handful of states across the country that take a different approach to this -- essentially outlawing these strips because they're viewed as "paraphernalia" ... perpetuating the old "Just Say No" D.A.R.E. mentality, which is antiquated.