SEATTLE — The fight against fentanyl is increasingly being waged in schools, jails and on city streets in the Pacific Northwest, where state officials in Oregon and Washington have named it a top issue as overdose deaths rise.
Washington's Democratic Gov. Jay Inslee plans to ask lawmakers for about $64 million more to treat and prevent opioid use. In Oregon, Democratic Gov. Tina Kotek has proposed declaring a fentanyl emergency in Portland, and lawmakers have created a committee on addiction to get a jump on the issue before the Legislature reconvenes in February.
“One pill can now take your life. Fentanyl is the nuclear weapon of drugs and we’ve got to up our game against this scourge,” Inslee said during a press conference on Wednesday.
A surge in fentanyl deaths, including among children, has marked the latest iteration of the years-long opioid crisis. The most recent provisional figures from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimate that more than 78,000 people died from overdoses involving synthetic opioids in the 12 months ending June 2023, accounting for 92% of all opioid overdose deaths during that period.
