Several bills signed to combat Washington's opioid and fentanyl crisis

Washington Gov. Jay Inslee on Tuesday signed a suite of bills meant to combat the state’s opioid and fentanyl epidemic. 

“Fentanyl is a scourge in the state of Washington,” Inslee said. “It is the nuclear weapon of opiates.” 

The bills seek to expand access to treatment services and recovery support, increase education on opioid risks, and build emergency response capacity. Two bills also require schools and institutions of higher education to carry naloxone, an overdose reversal medication. 

Overdose death rates have skyrocketed in recent years, driven primarily by fentanyl. There were 2,001 opioid overdose deaths in 2022 and 1,803 of those were fentanyl, according to Washington Department of Health data.

Several of the bills concern opioid use prevention education in schools and colleges, including the Lucas Petty Act, which requires fentanyl education in the public school curriculum. The act is named after a 16-year-old boy who died after smoking cannabis he didn’t realize was laced with fentanyl. 

Petty’s mother, Maria Trujillo Petty, attended Inslee’s signing. Inslee said her effort to tell her son’s story “has moved the entire state.” 

Inslee also signed bills acknowledging the disproportionate impact of the opioid epidemic on tribes and Indigenous people, who die from opioid overdoses at disproportionately high rates in Washington. 

Some of the bills the governor signed seek to ensure tribes have resources already available in the state. Another bill will ensure 20% of funds from the state’s legal settlements with opioid industry companies will go to tribes. 

The supplemental budget lawmakers authorized this month uses $51.4 million in legal settlements with companies involved in making and selling opioids to fund the legislation signed and other efforts to combat the epidemic. Funding for a fentanyl summit and outreach in tribal communities has also been set aside in the budget. 

During Inslee’s bill signing at the Tulalip Resort, he was honored with young drummers and singers. “I looked at these young faces and saw such hope, such wisdom and such capability,” Inslee said. “To think any one of those futures could be cut short by fentanyl is unacceptable.” 

This story was initially published by Washington State Standard, a nonprofit news organization based in Olympia and part of the States News network. Used by permission.