A fentanyl epidemic and what one city is doing to save lives

According to the National Center for Health Statistics, more than 100,000 people died last year due to a drug overdose. And that was and increase of 15% compared to 2020. What's to blame for this continuing rise in drug use and overdose deaths? Synthetic opioids, specifically fentanyl.

Host Teri Barr is spoke with Kasey Faur and Mike Smith, reporters with The Montana Standard in Butte, Montana, who wrote a recent series on fentanyl use that revealed a similar trend.

While this episode focuses on reporting centered on Butte, it serves as an example of what’s happening across the country. Following their reporting, Butte city leaders decided to take renewed action to fight the use of the drug and by extension the deaths it was leaving in its wake.

Read the articles here:

• Fentanyl taking hold, taking lives in Butte (May 15, 2022)
  
• ‘I hand out NARCAN like Tic-Tacs’: Options for residents with opioid, fentanyl dependence (May 16, 2022)

Behind the Headlines is produced and recorded by Teri Barr and edited by Chris Lay. If you appreciate the show, we encourage you to invest in local journalism and support whichever newspaper serves your community.

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Behind the Headlines features interviews with reporters and editors from newspapers owned by Lee Enterprises, including its Public Service Journalism team. Lee Enterprises is a leading provider of local news and information, and a major platform for advertising, with daily newspapers, rapidly-growing digital products, marketing services, innovative technology and nearly 350 weekly and specialty publications serving 77 markets in 26 states.