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Fentanyl overdoses are on the rise in Idaho

The picture on the left is an image of a legitimate Oxycodone pill. The picture on the right is an image of counterfeit Oxycodone pills.
United States Attorney's Office District of Idaho
The picture on the left is an image of a legitimate Oxycodone pill. The picture on the right is an image of counterfeit Oxycodone pills.

Last week two men from Idaho Falls were each sentenced to more than 20 years in prison for trafficking fentanyl and methamphetamine.

During the investigation police found 12,000 fentanyl pills in a storage unit in Idaho Falls. According to the U.S. Attorney for the District of Idaho this is not an isolated occurrence in the Gem State.

In April two men plead guilty to drug trafficking after police found almost a pound of counterfeit oxycodone that was laced with fentanyl. There was another federal case in February and another a few months before that.

It only takes two milligrams of fentanyl to kill someone, that’s the equivalent of a few grains of salt, and counterfeit pills are often laced with fentanyl, with no way of knowing if that pill is lethal.

U.S. Attorney for the District of Idaho, Josh Hurwit, joins Idaho Matters to talk more about the problem.

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As Senior Producer of our live daily talk show Idaho Matters, I’m able to indulge my love of storytelling and share all kinds of information (I was probably a Town Crier in a past life). My career has allowed me to learn something new everyday and to share that knowledge with all my friends on the radio.