Snohomish County taking steps to fight fentanyl

Snohomish County taking new steps to fight fentanyl

Snohomish County executive Dave Somers has seen the impact of the opioid epidemic in his county-- it also hits close to home for him.

SNOHOMISH COUNTY, Wash. - Money from a nationwide opioid settlement will fund a multi-pronged plan aimed at curbing addiction and overdoses in Snohomish County, especially when it comes to combating fentanyl use.

Thursday’s announcement by county executive Dave Somers was deeply personal and painful.

So far this year, more than 80 people in Snohomish County have died from opioid overdoses, and Somers came face to face with fentanyl’s deadly impact himself just a few months ago.

"I lost my own brother in March to fentanyl," said Somers.

Somers knows better than most how hard it is to break the addiction cycle.

"My mom had begun a journey of really severe alcoholism, which eventually she died with. So my little brother was born into that, so we know that early childhood trauma creates problems for people throughout their lives," he said.

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Such experiences made this strategy much more than a policy debate.

"Fentanyl coming into our communities-- it’s killing people. It’s disrupting families, it’s disrupting communities," said Somers. "We are on track to have one death a day."

The county will take the first $1.4 million of its $14 million opioid settlement payout and put it into multiple outreach and prevention services, including increasing the supply and availability of the anti-overdose drug Narcan and adding funding to local opioid treatment programs and increasing classes that teach addiction awareness in county schools.

"Instead of stigmatizing them and just trying to say it just needs to go away, we need to figure out how to help them get back into a productive life," Somers said. "And frankly, it’s the best thing for our families, our community our businesses."

Somers is also proposing that the plan be run through the county’s multi-agency coordination group, which includes the sheriff’s office and the county health department. Pending council approval, the program could begin rolling out within a matter of weeks.