Organizations across Idaho work to combat the expanding fentanyl crisis

On Jan. 9, Gov. Brad Little unveiled his “Idaho First” plan at the State of the State Address. 

“The people of Idaho have given us a mandate: to stay on course, put Idaho first and continue down this path of prosperity,” Little said at the address. 

Putting Idaho first, according to Little, includes investing in education, tax relief and infrastructure.

Also included in the Idaho First plan is “fighting fentanyl,” which is a unique addition to similar plans established in the past. In fact, as part of the 2023-24 fiscal year budget, Little allocated an ongoing $1.6 million to the Idaho State Police to develop a statewide drug interception team to respond to the ongoing fentanyl crisis.

The budget also provides a one-time allocation of $721,000 for the expansion of drug testing and fentanyl training in the Department of Correction.

Since the end of 2021, the Boise Police Department has issued over 500 charges related to fentanyl, including over 100 charges for selling/trafficking, according to a public records request. 

The Oregon-Idaho High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area program was established by the Federal government in 1999 to facilitate collaboration between law enforcement agencies to combat drug trafficking in and around Oregon and Idaho. In the past year, the program has put extra focus on combating increases in fentanyl and educating the population on the topic.  

Fentanyl is particularly dangerous because oftentimes the user is unaware that the drug they’re taking contains fentanyl. In Idaho, fentanyl is most commonly found in small blue pills made to look like prescription oxycodone. 

The Oregon-Idaho High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area program confiscated 1.5 million of these counterfeit pills in 2021, which is a 137% increase from 2019.

Around the country, the prevalence of fentanyl has been growing exponentially, and Idaho is not an exception. In 2021, 44% of all overdose deaths in Idaho were attributed to fentanyl, according to a study done by Facing Fentanyl Now. This number is over double the rate of fentanyl overdoses recorded in the previous year. 

The Idaho Harm Reduction Project is a non-profit organization dedicated to “serving the drug-using community of Idaho.” The organization first began offering services in 2020 and has since become Idaho’s largest distributor of naloxone, a medication that rapidly reverses opioid overdoses, including fentanyl.

“We are interested in providing resources that help everyone who interacts with the drug supply to reduce the risk associated with that behavior … and fentanyl certainly increases those risks to the people that we serve,” said Evan Burke, the community relations program manager for the Idaho Harm Reduction Project. 

The Idaho Harm Reduction Project provides all of its services free of charge, which include accessing naloxone as well as fentanyl test strips. The project distributed 3,981 naloxone kits in the first fiscal year of operation, and from that received confirmation of at least 245 overdose reversals from said kits.

Compared to other opiods, fentanyl is much more potent. It only takes 2 milligrams, or the equivalent to a grain of salt, to be deadly, which is why test strips and naloxone can quickly become lifesaving. 

Burke said that it is important for anyone who uses drugs, or knows someone who does, to educate themselves on the dangers of fentanyl and to always be prepared with naloxone and test strips.