This story was originally published on MyNorthwest.com
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released a report Tuesday saying drug-related deaths are going down, but the Spokane Police Chief said his city is seeing a different story.
CDC provisional data predicts a nearly 24% decline in drug overdose deaths in the U.S. from September 2023 to 2024 compared to the previous year.
“It is unprecedented to see predicted overdose deaths drop by more than 27,000 over a single year,” Allison Arwady, MD, MPH, Director of CDC’s National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, stated in the report. “That’s more than 70 lives saved every day.”
However, Spokane Police Chief Kevin Hall testified to the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation on Thursday that the Spokane Fire Department’s calls for overdoses increased by 30% in 2024 over the previous year.
“Like every other urban police agency in the country, the Spokane Police Department continues to allocate more and more resources to address open air drug use, fatal drug overdoses and the overall harm caused to the community by fentanyl,” he said.
According to Hall, the Spokane County Medical Examiner reported at least 346 opioid related deaths last year, with more than 75% involving fentanyl.
Related from MyNorthwest: Seattle Police recover large stash of fentanyl, meth, and cash in Capitol Hill
Why are fentanyl overdoses so prominent?
Hall explained that fentanyl is 40 to 50 times more lethal than heroin and is more easily accessible. He also shared how fentanyl enters the country.
“From my experience in Southern Arizona, I know that most fentanyl enters the U.S. through legal ports of entry, concealed in commercial cargo trucks, passenger vehicles, trailers and RVs,” Hall said. “Recent seizures highlight the scale of trafficking along transportation routes. In Tucson, law enforcement intercepted 1.7 million fentanyl pills in just two stops in late 2024. Spokane’s supply chain follows similar patterns, moving drugs from Mexico along interstates, I-19, I-10 and I-5, before reaching Eastern Washington via I-90.”
According to Hall, drug traffickers also use commercial trucks, passenger rail and commercial airlines. He cited a 2023 investigation at the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport that led to the discovery of 400,000 pills in checked baggage. He also cited a 2024 Seattle investigation that resulted in the arrest of 12 fentanyl traffickers, the seizure of mass amounts of the drug and dozens of weapons.
Hall then called on Congress to pass the Stop Smuggling Illicit Synthetic Drugs on U.S. Transportation Networks Act.
“This legislation would expand non-intrusive inspection technologies such as drive-through and mobile X-ray sensors, specialized canine resources, vapor technology, to strengthen our ability todetect and disrupt fentanyl trafficking before it reaches our streets,” he said. “The fight against fentanyl is urgent. It’s real. Strengthening our enforcement capabilities will save lives.”
U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell stated, via a news release, that at the hearing, U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, the chair of the Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, committed to working with her on legislation to stop fentanyl smuggling in the U.S.
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