Area leaders assemble to address opioid epidemic

DESERT AIRE — Leaders from around the Columbia Basin gathered at the Wanapum Heritage Center on Thursday to discuss the ongoing battle against fentanyl — a synthetic opioid that caused nearly two dozen deaths in Grant County last year — and other opioids in the Columbia Basin. 

“(In Grant County in 2022), for opioids in general there were 486 patients and 23 deaths to an opioid overdose,” said Grant County Health District Harm Reduction Program Coordinator Mariah Delon Munoz.

Guest speakers at the event included Delon Munoz and Corie Bales, director of content for DH, a social impact communications agency in Washington. The two speakers talked about the raw facts associated with opioids and fentanyl in Washington and Grant County in particular and how the community might approach reducing the harm done by illicit use of opioids. Primarily, communication strategies and using Narcan, an overdose countermeasure drug also known by its generic name, naloxone, include the ramifications of communicating and providing countermeasures. Members of various community coalitions that fight illicit drug use also spoke to a full hall that included law enforcement leaders, state legislators, representatives from congressional offices, city council representatives from around the area and concerned citizens. 

Delon Munoz focused a large portion of her time speaking with the group on the extensiveness of opioid use, primarily fentanyl, in Grant County. 

Data from the Washington Department of Health shows that Delon Munoz was correct in her assertions that the problem is serious. 

In 2018, WDoH records indicate one death from opioids in Grant County. Over the last several years, that number has increased through 2022 with a small decrease in 2023. (See infographic.) That makes overdose deaths 34% of accidental deaths countywide for 2023, WDoH data indicates. 

In a separate interview, Grant County Sheriff Joey Kriete said he feels like the 2023 decrease, along with other factors, shows that enforcement and prevention efforts are working. 

“We have made large seizures of up to 25,000 or 30,000 pills at a time, along with 30-plus pounds of methamphetamine along with it. We’re not seeing those types of seizures right now. The abundance of pills that we are buying in bulk (during investigations) has gone down a little bit, which is a good sign which makes us feel like there’s a little bit of progress being made,” Kriete said. 

Unfortunately, Kriete said it is still fairly easy for the average user to find fentanyl pills, often a small blue pill or colorful pills that resemble Skittles candies. 

Bales said much of the problem can be addressed through preventive education; DH has multiple campaigns out and works to partner with communities to spread the information in those campaigns as much as possible. The campaigns — titled “Starts with One” and “Friends for Life” — approach people in different situations with information that helps them make better decisions. 

One of the ways people start down the path toward addiction is through obtaining opioids, including fentanyl prescribed as a pain medication, from a friend or family member. In 2017, 75% of opioid misuse began with access to a friend or family member’s prescription, Bales said. Oftentimes, that access could have been prevented by medications being properly secured. 

“As we dug into research and we started talking to people, we learned that, even though the vast majority of people understood that they should be locking up their prescriptions, very few were consistently doing it,” Bales said. 

To correct course on that, communication went out to people that consumers trust to advise them with medicine use – medical practitioners and pharmacists. As those professionals spread the word on the need to lock up addictive medicines, communities that got the message improved their habits, she said. 

In the end, though, there still needs to be an awareness that opioids are in the community, and people should be prepared to deal with possible interactions with fentanyl, Delon Munoz said. Having access to Narcan in nasal spray format, available for free in communities around Grant County and the Columbia Basin as a whole, can help. Using the spray is simple — put the nosepiece as far into the patient’s nose as possible without causing injury and press the red plunger to disperse the medication. The risk is minimal to the person applying the anti-overdose medication because it is harmless itself and fentanyl needs to be absorbed through a mucus membrane — primarily the nose and mouth — in order to cause any effects. The naloxone blocks receptors for opioids and stops the overdose as a result. 

More information on using Narcan is available through the Grant County Health District, Renew and other local organizations that work to stave off overdoses in the county. 

Multiple speakers and attendees said it is vital that adults provide guidance and have the difficult conversations surrounding opioid use in the community with their children. They also said it is important to support extracurricular activities such as agriculture programs, sports and clubs in the schools. 

State Rep. Tom Dent, R-Moses Lake, said he felt it is vital that those programs — especially agricultural extracurriculars — are available to provide productive activities for young people, which is why he and his fellow legislators work to maintain those programs. 

“From a legislative point of view, we fight to keep funding for these programs in the (Washington) Legislature, because there’s so many folks that don't understand (the good the programs do),” Dent said. 

R. Hans “Rob” Miller may be reached at editor@columbiabasinherald.com. 

Editor’s Note: This article is part of an ongoing series regarding opioids, especially fentanyl, in the area served by the Columbia Basin Herald. Over the next several months, we will have stories focusing on prevention, harm reduction, law enforcement and other aspects related to the crisis in our communities. If you or your organization has information to share, please contact me so that we can provide as much information as possible on this issue which has cost us too many lives over the last few years — one is too many. 

    Overdose deaths from opioids like Fentanyl have risen dramatically in Grant County since 2028. Mariah Delon Munoz with the Grant County Health District said the numbers here only reflect opioid deaths, not necessarily hospitalizations or overdoses that were handled without aid from first responders or medical facilities.
  

    State Representative Tom Dent, R-Moses Lake, said the Washington Legislature is aware of the need for productive extracurricular programs like 4H, Future Farmers of America and others. Those programs, he said, help youth stay positively engaged in the community and help to keep them away from poor decisions like drug use.