Tribes in Washington are battling a devastating opioid crisis. Will a multimillion-dollar bill help? – By Hallie Golden (Associated Press) / Feb 16, 2024
BELLINGHAM, Wash. (AP) — Evelyn Jefferson walks deep into a forest dotted with the tents of unhoused Lummi Nation tribal members and calls out names. When someone appears, she and a nurse hand out the opioid overdose reversal medication naloxone
Jefferson, a tribal member herself, knows how critical these kits are: Just five months ago, her own son died of an overdose from a synthetic opioid that’s about 100 times more potent than fentanyl. The 37-year-old’s death was the fourth related to opioids in four days on the reservation.
“It took us eight days to bury him because we had to wait in line, because there were so many funerals in front of his,” said Jefferson, crisis outreach supervisor for Lummi Nation. “Fentanyl has really taken a generation from this tribe.”
