Fentanyl

New research in the Journal of the American Medical Association shows that teens haven’t used more illegal drugs over the last decade. However, they are dying from drug overdoses at twice the rate.

Federal lawmakers on Tuesday heard from tribal and border patrol representatives in a hearing on how the opioid crisis is impacting Indigenous communities. Some witnesses advocated for the federal government to fully fund various Indigenous health services and one called for border policies that would stop the flow of drugs into these communities.

Idaho's crime lab in Meridian struggles to keep up with more fentanyl coming into the Gem State.

As Idaho’s population grows, so does the amount of drugs coming through the state. That includes an increasing amount of the dangerous drug fentanyl. Madelyn Beck reports on how this is straining the state’s crime labs.

Deadly overdoses from the synthetic opioid fentanyl are a growing problem. The drug is useful for doctors, but now it’s showing up all over. There are ways to test for it, but in some cases, that’s illegal, too. The Mountain West News Bureau’s Madelyn Beck explains.

Sheriff’s deputies in Washoe County, Nev., responded to two fentanyl overdoses in a 12-hour span earlier this month.

Fatal drug overdoses are skyrocketing, driven by synthetic opioids like fentanyl. And that potentially deadly drug has made it to the Mountain West – the last part of the U.S. to face the brunt of the opioid crisis.

In the high-stakes fight against fentanyl-induced drug deaths, one remedy is fairly simple: blue and white strips of paper. Fentanyl test strips work like a pregnancy test. One line shows up if there’s fentanyl in a solution. Two lines if there’s none. But where are they needed most?

Fentanyl test strips and better data may be a few of the many solutions to the opioid epidemic and the Mountain West's spike in overdose deaths.