Blackfeet Nation Looks To Address Fentanyl Problem With Task Force

The Blackfeet Tribal Business Council declared a State of Emergency last Tuesday after 17 fentanyl overdoses, and four deaths were reported on the reservation during the week of March 14 alone.

“We would like the community to be aware of the street drug Fentanyl and its potency. Fentanyl can be as small as a grain of salt that can result in overdose and or death,” a press release from the tribe read.

The tribe will establish a task force to work with federal and state jurisdictions and will provide recommendations to the Tribal Business Council on how to respond to the fentanyl emergency, according to the declaration. While its members have not been announced, its creation will be facilitated by Misty LaPlant from Blackfeet Law Enforcement Services and Kristy Bullshoe from Blackfeet Behavioral Health.

Both LaPlant and Bullshoe could not be reached for further comment on the task force.

“The Blackfeet reservation is now being overwhelmed by an influx of this epidemic which requires a governmental and community response to ensure that all resources are available to the persons using drugs and to the drug dealers,” the declaration read.

Fentanyl is 50 to 100 times more potent than morphine and has increasingly become a black-market drug, and illegally manufactured fentanyl is often secretly mixed with heroin and/or cocaine to increase potency, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

And it’s not just a Blackfeet problem. Across the country, overdoses from synthetic opioids, like fentanyl, were more than 11 times higher in 2019 than in 2013 and accounted for nearly 73 percent of all opioid-involved deaths in 2019, according to the CDC. Earlier this month, the

Missoulian reported fentanyl- laced pills sold to teenagers resulted in three overdoses and one death.

A representative from the Blackfeet Tribe said fentanyl has been in the community for a while but is now hitting a point that warrants special attention. To help with the effort, the tribe heard from the Blood Tribe of Canada, which according to the Great Falls Tribune, saw a combined 44 overdoses and nine deaths in January and February.

Blood Tribe Councilwoman and opioid response coordinator for the tribe, Alayna Many Guns, told the Blackfeet Tribal Council last week that its task force consists of 100 people with teams dedicated to things like harm reduction, treatment, education and prevention work, according to the Tribune.