SPOKANE, Wash. — Fentanyl continues to be a nation-wide concern and eastern Washington is no stranger to its deadly effects.
Tuesday, Congresswoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers hosted a roundtable with city and tribal leaders to discuss how to prevent the deadly effects of fentanyl, starting at distribution.
Families damaged by the effects of fentanyl were also in the room to share the impacts of losing loved ones to drug misuse.
A large talking point in the hour-long discussion was the need for more prevalent drug education in our regional school curriculums.
"There was a real focus on making sure that we're doing more in our schools and educating our kids," Rep. McMorris Rodgers said. "The importance of supporting local law enforce and resource officers and the role they play in helping raise awareness and make sure people are aware of the threat.”
Spokane Mayor Nadine Woodward echoed these sentiments, saying drug awareness needs to be shared at the elementary school level and continued through high school.
"We need to be more intentional about what we do in our schools in terms of a curriculum," Mayor Woodward shared. "It needs to be something all the schools are using."
She also said increasing the number of school resource officers will help students build trust with local law enforcement.
McMorris Rodgers said drug smuggling at the border is putting Washingtonians at risk.
“The continued increase in the amount of fentanyl is coming into the United States, making its way to places like Colville and Spokane,” the congresswoman said.
Deputy chief patrol agent Jeffrey Dinise said 19,000 pounds of fentanyl has been seen at and between southern-border check points since the start of the year.
He said one pound equals about 600 to 700 pills.
When talking about fentanyl, it’s impossible to ignore the damaging effects of drug misuse.
Mayor Woodward said too many people in our community know how deadly fentanyl can be.
“Two years ago, a family member of my family died from fentanyl poisoning," the mayor said. "There are more of us who have been impacted by this than we realize and so my heart goes out to those families because we suffer the same pain."
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