Area Continues To Deal With Fentanyl

National Fentanyl Prevention and Awareness Day was recognized on Thursday, Aug. 21, and use of the dangerous drug remains an extremely serious problem in Roosevelt County.

“It’s bad. It’s epidemic proportions,” Roosevelt County Sheriff’s Office’s chief deputy Patrick O’Connor said last week.

He explained fentanyl has moved above prescription pill abuse and heroin as the second most used illegal drug in the area, only behind meth.

O’Connor said that the illegal use of prescription pills were the second highest for many years until being replaced by fentanyl.

“It’s cheaper and more powerful,” O’Connor said. “We’ve had several overdoses and near overdosed deaths because of it.”

The dealers are usually from large, out of state groups. The drugs are often transported either through the train or people making direct runs to bigger cities and bringing them back.

The Fort Peck Reservation is an attractive market. O’Connor said fentanyl can be sold for $1-$3 a pill in larger cities. In rural Montana, the prices is $80-$100 a pill.

“It’s common for users to become dealers to support their habit,” O’Connor said.

For example, a person might purchase 10 pills, keep three and then sell the other seven.

Fentanyl used to be obtain only in pills, but a powder mixed is becoming more popular. That mix might contain carfentanil, which is even more powerful than fentanyl.

“There’s no consistency to the product,” O’Connor explained. “That’s what makes it so dangerous.”