Estimated read time: 5-6 minutes
- Utah Gov. Spencer Cox announced a new statewide task force to address the rising fentanyl crisis, emphasizing the dramatic increase in fentanyl seizures and related deaths.
- The task force, comprising political leaders, law enforcement and federal agencies, aims to improve data collection, close prevention gaps and disrupt trafficking networks.
- Funding will come from state and federal resources as well as settlements with major drug companies.
SALT LAKE CITY — Mysti Lopez grew up surrounded by a history of addiction that "runs deeply" on both sides of her family.
Her dad was a heroin addict and her mother struggled with methamphetamine addiction, according to Lopez, who said every member of her family was impacted by addiction in one way or another.
"Despite telling myself I'd never be like them, I eventually found myself walking the same path," she told reporters at Cottonwood Park in Salt Lake City on Tuesday. "Heroin was my first escape, but fentanyl quickly followed. It was easy to get — too easy, in fact."
Falling into the "trap" of fentanyl — a synthetic opioid that has exploded in popularity across the U.S. in recent years — was easy, she said, but getting out was much harder. Finding the drug is so easy, she explained, she could probably find someone selling it within a 5- or 10-minute walk along the nearby Jordan River Trail.
Lopez eventually found herself getting clean, thanks to an arrest that landed her in drug court, which she described as a divine intervention. She has now been sober for 3½ years and helped start a virtual outpatient recovery center for those struggling with addiction.
"It means everything to me," she said. "I've got all my kids in my home now, and I'm giving them a place of safety and a place of hope and teaching them how to live a life without substance use as a coping skill. So, just really showing up and being present — which is the biggest part."
While Lopez's story has so far been a positive one, many Utahns are not so lucky. Utah Gov. Spencer Cox said state troopers have seen a dramatic increase in fentanyl pills seized, and the state has seen a growing number of deaths by overdose. Six years ago, in 2018, troopers recovered 1,600 doses of fentanyl, he said. In 2020, that number rose to about 15,000, before jumping to nearly 2 million last year.
"What might seem like a distance problem is getting closer to home than many realize," the governor said. "Fentanyl is affecting all walks of life, from parents to professionals. Now, the amount of fentanyl pills seized by our state Bureau of Investigation is absolutely skyrocketing."
"Now, these are not just statistics," he added. "They're our neighbors, our parents, workers, friends and even our kids. But raising awareness, providing resources and supporting recovery efforts, we can begin to combat the dangers of fentanyl and prevent more lives from being lost to this deadly drug."
That's why the governor on Tuesday announced a new statewide task force to combat the spread of fentanyl and address the root causes leading to addiction. Made up of political leaders at the state and local levels, law enforcement, federal and state agencies, the task force aims to provide better data on the issue, close gaps in prevention and intervention and disrupt the transnational trafficking networks that have led to the drug's increased availability, according to Jess Anderson, the state commissioner of public safety.
"I think we can all agree that this state that we love, the communities in which we live, will be much better off as we educate and eradicate the effects of fentanyl and while we keep Utah safe," he said.
The task force will rely on funds from the state and federal government, as well as money the state has obtained through settlements with major drug companies that contributed to the opioid crisis. Cox said leaders are still "grappling" with how to adequately punish those charged with distributing illegal drugs, without potentially doing more harm by leaving people with few employment or other opportunities.
He said the state's drug court program has been "really key and helpful" in allowing people to get treatment while having the opportunity to have charges expunged from their record after they complete the required program.
"We have to hold people accountable," he said. "So many people say, if I hadn't gotten arrested, I never would have had the opportunity to get clean."
The governor blamed the Biden administration's handling of the U.S. southern border for the influx of fentanyl to the state.
"Of the many ways that the Biden administration's border policies have been a failure, the fentanyl crisis is the most stark and dangerous," Cox said. "That's not a partisan point of view, but a bipartisan point of view expressed to me by Democratic governors and Democratic members of Congress."
That comment prompted pushback from Democratic state Rep. Brian King, who is running against Cox for governor.
"Instead of addressing the root causes of this tragic epidemic, he used his press conference to parrot anti-immigrant rhetoric and blame rather than deliver real-time solutions," King said in a statement. "Why today? The day ballots are mailed out in his increasingly competitive reelection race? This issue has been serious for a long time, but suddenly the governor decides to make a show of it."
Lopez, meanwhile, praised the establishment of the task force, which she said she believes will deliver meaningful results to struggling people across the state.
"It's just everywhere, and it's hard for them to keep up," she said.
Asked what message she has for those who have stigmatized beliefs about people with addiction, Lopez urged people to remember her humanity.
"They think, once a criminal, always a criminal. Once an addict, always an addict, but I'd like to break that barrier," she said. "I have a clean slate and now I'm working closely in a situation like this and just trying to help others find their way out of it. And so, we're people, too."
