County Feeling Deadly Impact Of Fentanyl
The impacts of the drug fentanyl is being tragically felt throughout the state of Montana including Roosevelt County. Recently, the Blackfeet Tribal Business Council declared a state of emergency after 17 fentanyl overdoses and four deaths were reported on the reservation. The tribe has established a task force to work with federal and state jurisdictions.
In March, the Missoulian reported that fentanyl laced pills sold to teenagers resulted in three overdoses and one death.
The Montana Highway Patrol found nearly 3,800 fentanyl tablets in 2021, while fentanyl arrests were up 1600 percent from 2020 to 2021 —from one to 17. Through March 15 of this year, Montana Highway Patrol troopers have already seized 12,079 fentanyl pills — more than three times the total for all of 2021.
Fentanyl has also made a strong presence in eastern Montana especially during the last two years.
“It wasn’t on the radar two years ago, and now it’s our number two drug,” Roosevelt County Attorney Frank Piocos said of fentanyl.
A spokesman for the Roosevelt County Sheriff’s Office estimates that there have been about a dozen overdoses including some deaths from fentanyl during the last two years.
“It’s going to get worse,” he warned. “It’s just exploding nation wide and in the state.”
Piocos said fentanyl comes to the United States across both borders. He described Williston, N.D., as one fairly close hub for drug activity.
“There’s a demand and prices are higher on the reservation,” Piocos said of drug sales in Roosevelt County. “Also, gangs don’t have turf here yet.”
“It’s a cheap high,” a spokesman from the Roosevelt County Sheriff’s Office said.
But that high from fentanyl may be extremely costly in other ways. Because most fentanyl arrives from either Chinese labs or Mexican drug cartels, measurements of the drug aren’t very accurate.
“There’s no consistency so the amount that gets you high one time might kill you the next time,” the spokesman explained.
The drug is so powerful that law enforcement has concerns about inhaling too much by accident while making an arrest.
“Fentanyl is making it scary,” he said. “It takes a very small amount to cause death if we inhale it by accident. It’s definitely a crisis here.”
Piocos said he and Roosevelt County Sheriff Jason Frederick have held discussions of how funds that will be received through a national opioid settlement will be utilized to combat the fentanyl abuse. Montana will receive $80 million in the final approval of the multistate settlement holding the nation’s three major pharmaceutical distributors — Cardinal, McKesso and AmerisourceBergen — and Johnson & Johnson accountable for their roles in fueling the national opioid epidemic and the harm it has caused. The settlement money will be used for opioid abatement which could include programs like opioid use disorder treatment, providing Narcan to emergency or first responders, and drug treatment courts for defendants with opioid-related substance abuse problems or histories.
One effort being made regarding drug abuse is that county law enforcement as well as tribal police are working together with the Federal Bureau of Investigation on the Safe Trails Task Force. The program is a partnership between the FBI and other federal, state, local and tribal law enforcement that works to combat the growth of crime in Indian Country.
Safe Trails Task Forces allow participating agencies to increase investigative coordination in Indian Country to target violent crime, drugs, gangs and gaming violations.
