Here’s Utah’s efforts to combat the drug crisis

Fentanyl became the most common drug involved in fatal overdoses in Utah last year, according to data provided by the Utah Department of Health and Human Services. Two years after the synthetic opioid reached that point nationwide.

The 290 people who died in Utah last year after taking fentanyl represented a 71 percent increase in two years and more than five times the number of such deaths in 2019.

A new state task force took place first meeting earlier this monthas officials vowed to fight fentanyl with a comprehensive approach, from disrupting drug trafficking networks to reducing demand.

And earlier this week Governor Spencer Cox announced that Utah would do so help President-elect Donald Trump deport undocumented immigrants who committed crimes. Part of the governor’s five-step plan included working with the newly created “Fentanyl Taskforce on Long-Term Solutions for Offenders Who Engaged in the Distribution of Fentanyl While in the State Illegally.”

Here’s what you need to know about the crisis and what officials and advocates are doing to help prevent more overdose deaths:

Why is fentanyl increasing?

Illegally manufactured fentanyl — a prescription drug up to 50 times stronger than heroin and 100 times stronger than morphine — is fueling drug use in Utah, officials say.

In the state’s illegal drug market, it’s often mixed with other drugs, made to look like the genuine pharmaceutical version, or even pressed to look like Flintstones vitamins.

Dustin Gillespie, Assistant Special Agent in Charge of the US Anti-Drug Administration The Salt Lake City district office said that’s because fentanyl is cheap to produce. Although law enforcement has seized a record number of fentanyl pills, there is an “oversupply” of the pills in Utah communities, Gillespie said.

And it could take just one pill to cause a fatal overdose, he said, because the agency’s lab tests showed that 70 percent of the pills contain a potentially lethal dose of two milligrams or more. One pill might have no fentanyl, Gillespie said, and another might have five times the potentially lethal dose.

How is Utah already trying to help people?

The groups in Utah have a history of working together, such as law enforcement focusing on disrupting the supply chain, while public health officials provide education and resources, and harm reduction programs try to keep people out of harm’s way.

“I wish we had a solution because we already would,” said Jessica Serfustini, director of health promotion Southeastern Utah Department of Health.

The department’s efforts in Emery, Carbon and Grand counties use evidence-based programs to help reduce the spread of disease and provide a safer route for drug use, which will happen anyway, she said.

This includes education about the dangers of mixing drugs and how to use naloxone, an emergency injectable treatment for opioid overdose, and Narcana nasal spray version.

State and Utah naloxone – founded by state Sen. Jen Plumb – have dispensed hundreds of thousands of doses of injectable treatment.

Lead, a doctor, describes naloxone as a fire extinguisher – how we “keep people alive while hopefully on their way to better health or well-being.”

What else is needed?

Other safety efforts include testing strips for fentanyl and xylazine — a non-opioid tranquilizer that is also laced with illegal drugs — and syringe exchanges.

Exchange programs, which take used syringes and offer new ones, have been shown to lead to lower rates of HIV and hepatitis C and less syringe litter, said MacKenzie Bray, executive director of The. Salt Lake City Harm Reduction Project. The programs are “still quite controversial,” she said, although they work.

“People who access a syringe exchange are three times more likely to access treatment,” Bray said.

Some advocates would like to see more, such as access to a safe supply and safe spaces to use, such as the overdose prevention sites in Philadelphia and New York.

While some of the additional resources are unlikely to happen in Utah, the state has made a lot of progress, said Mindy Vincent, a licensed social worker who founded Utah Harm Reduction Coalition.

The state has “about as many support systems in place right now,” she said, though some could use the expansion.

Drive with compassion, advocates urge

As the problem persists, empathy is key, said Max Radecky, who runs the syringe exchange program at Odyssey House. Martindale Clinic. Drug abuse often stems from trauma, he said, so it’s critical to see those with substance use disorders as people first.

“I just want people to know that these are human beings,” Radecky said, “and they are your neighbors and your brothers and sisters.”

Vincent emphasized that Utahns don’t need compassion for the behavior, but for the cause.

“The most successful strategy is to start at the individual level,” Radecky said, “and help people understand that substance use is a disease just like any other.”

Where to get help

Test strips are available from various health departments and community organizations. Find a location to get test strips epidemic.utah.gov/fentanyl-test-strips/fentanyl-test-strips-distribution/.

Naloxone and Narcan are available at multiple locations statewide and through Utah naloxone.

Treatment for substance use disorders is available through official county suppliers and others mental and behavioral health providers.

Megan Banta is the Salt Lake Tribune’s data company reporter, a position supported philanthropically. Tribune retains control over all editorial decisions.