This week we had a visit from our WSU Murrow Fellow in Newport, Sophia Mattice-Aldous. She and Aaron Hedge discussed her deeply-reported piece on the landscape of opioid overdose in the rural areas of North Idaho and Northwest Washington, highlighted by the tragic story of Jasmine Martin, a 23-year-old who died from an overdose in 2024 while trying to get sober. The conversation delves into the availability of recovery resources, stigmas surrounding addiction, and the complexities of fentanyl use in small communities. Despite their grief, Jasmine's family, particularly her mother Tish and sister Antonia, are actively working to raise awareness and improve access to life-saving measures like Narcan.

Read the story here. 

Hey, it's Val.

2

Did you know that we have a reporter

up in Newport, Sophia Mattis?

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Aldis is our WSU Murrow fellow who

we share with the Newport Minor.

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This week, she and Erin Hedge had the

mic to discuss her deeply reported

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piece on the landscape of opioid

overdose in the rural areas of No

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Idaho and Northwest Washington.

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They talk broad statistics in the

story of Jasmine Martin a 23-year-old

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woman whose family agreed to share the

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overdose all this and more on free range.

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Hail

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Luke's still laid off.

12

Val is taking the day and Aaron is sick.

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So what you've got here is me, the

other Aaron and Sophia Mattis Algi,

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She has excellent work for us

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that would otherwise not make it

down here and is in the studio today.

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Welcome back to the show Sophia.

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Glad you're here.

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Hi Aaron.

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Thank you.

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Good to see you.

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You too.

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So today we're gonna talk about a

big story that Sophia wrote this week

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about a 23-year-old woman named Jasmine

Martin, who died last year of a fentanyl

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overdose in Priest River, Idaho while

trying to get sober on her mother's

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Priest River is one of the

coverage areas that Sophia,

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gets for us so that we don't have

to send our two reporters up there.

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And it's a really good resource.

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And this was a really good story.

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it really struck me for,

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just basically I think there's a

perception of Spokane as being kind

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of an epicenter of the fentanyl

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epidemic.

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I've heard a lot of people say, and I

don't have any numbers on this, but just

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like anecdotally, that Spokane seems

worse than like Seattle and Portland

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in terms of its, fentanyl epidemic.

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And it struck me that this

epidemic is not unique to Spokane

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or like larger cities like us.

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It also exists out in rural areas, and I

think that kind of strikes at the heart of

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some inaccurate notions of what city life

is like and what vices in cities are like.

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I was also struck by the, the

intimacy of detail that, that you got

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from, talking to Jasmine's family.

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And, yeah.

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So I just wanted to kind of like go

through the process of reporting this

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story, what it was like doing it.

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I wanna talk about some

of the facts of the story.

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So yeah, let's dive in.

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I guess first can you just like zoom

way out, in terms of the case of, of

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Jasmine's story specifically, and tell

us a bit about the background, the

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backbone of this story, the characters,

the circumstances and what happened

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to Jasmine and how you got into this

story, what your window was into it.

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Absolutely.

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To go back in time a little bit before

I got this fellowship with Washington

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State University, I was working at River

Mountain Village Advanced Care in Newport

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and Antonia Patterson, who is Jasmine's

sister, was working there as well.

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And I can't remember exactly what the

circumstances were, but it was one day

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when we were both on break and we were

in the break room and just talking.

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And I had heard her mention her sister

before and I was curious, so I just,

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because she was always, would always

refer to her sister in the past tense.

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And so I just asked her, what happened.

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And she was very upfront.

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She told me that Jasmine had

died of a fentanyl overdose.

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And from there we talked about it, but

we went on our ways and then it was

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several months later until I got the

job through the fellowship and started

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writing for the minor and for range.

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But I still work at advanced

care sometimes per diem.

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Mm-hmm.

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And Antonia and her mother, Trish, excuse

me, Tish Washburn, have been involved

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in like community volunteer projects

to raise awareness about fentanyl

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and try to expand the availability

of Narcan and our communities.

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And can, can you tell us what Narcan

is, just for people who don't know?

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Oh, excuse me.

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Yes.

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Narcan is a brand name of Naloxone.

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It is a drug that is used

to reverse opioid overdoses.

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If the person is already

deceased, it can't do anything.

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But it, can be very, very handy in

getting the person to wake back up again.

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Thank you.

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And, so.

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It was something that, I had thought about

in the back of my mind for a while after

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I got the job being a journalist again.

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I thought maybe someday Antonio

will wanna talk about that.

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And then there was an article that

I think it cropped up in, I wanna

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say the Seattle Times that was about

the trending fentanyl, deaths and

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nationally, how those were going down.

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But in states like Washington, they

were going up and even though Jasmine,

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went to school in Priest River,

she passed away in Priest River.

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Just, it was unique to

the fact that because.

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Newport is right next to Idaho.

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I mean, we're basically, we call it

the Ponder River Valley community,

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even though it covers two states

because you know, people, they, we have

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relatives on both sides of the border.

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Friends on both sides of the border.

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People come to watch school events

on both sides of the border.

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So, that issue of, of fentanyl

is still intrinsically

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linked with both communities.

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And it just came to pass that I, you know,

got ahold of Antonia and I said, I'd like

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to write this story and if it's okay with

you and your mother, I'd like to talk to

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you both and, if you would like to share

and well, to be fair, Antonia was the

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one who got her mother Tish involved.

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At first, I was just going to

talk to Antonia, and then she

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brought up, you know, is it okay

if my mother sits in on this too?

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And I was absolutely, absolutely.

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And.

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Uh, like you and I were talking about

earlier, um, if they hadn't spoke to

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me, the story would've still been okay.

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It would've been a very serviceable

story about, you know, this is trends

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that we're seeing in our community,

and, you know, a few trends about what's

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happening nationally and statewide.

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But these two were really

the heart of the story.

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So it wouldn't have been

what it was without them.

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That was a long, rambling

way to answer your question.

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That was perfect.

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Well, I think that's really interesting

to me 'cause it's, I think that like,

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one of the things we focus on at

range, and I talked to you a little

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bit about this before, is I think

that people don't really have a window

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into how those stories come about.

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And I didn't know that you had a

previous relationship with, Tony before

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you started working on this story.

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And I think that that's like.

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How most journalistic stories work

is through connections that you have,

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connections that you make, one thing

that struck me about what you were saying

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earlier is this story had been in the

back of your head since you started.

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Doing journalism, like kind of was was

it like as a story or did you want to

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write about it during that time or was

it just like an earworm that you had?

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It was just kind of an earworm.

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I remember many years ago when

I was much younger and working

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at a different newspaper.

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Um, and you might've, you might've had

the same experience to some extent.

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Like when we were in our twenties,

the big thing in rural communities

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was methamphetamines, right?

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And then it was, black tar heroin.

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And I had written stories, during those

times about those specific drugs in the

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communities I was living and working in.

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And so it was just interesting to me

to see how it's shifted and changed.

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And there's a lot of generalizations

that you hear about fentanyl and things.

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People say that in terms of, it's

a bad joke, but it feels like

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there's a ring of truth to it.

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When you hear people say things like,

you know, back in my day, weed was

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just weed and acid was just acid.

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Yeah.

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And it's just the fact that

fentanyl is so prevalent now.

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Well, and, it's not just simple fentanyl.

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Right.

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It keeps cropping up in new

forms because Absolutely.

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The, um, the manufacturers of it keep

coming up with new ways to get around

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export laws and things like that.

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And so the chemical composure of the drug

keeps shifting and people keep losing

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their, I guess their tolerance for it.

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And, it's kind of, yeah, this drug

is kind of like a shapeshifter.

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It's not simple marijuana.

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It's not simple.

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LSD, you know, the, the chemical

composure is, is very complex

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and it shifts over time.

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Absolutely.

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And that's really interesting.

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And I think that that's like,

I think that's one of the

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reasons it's so dangerous.

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It's always cut with new things.

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You know, there's, like, I hear some

new weird, thing that it gets cut with.

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Every time I talk to somebody out on the

streets in Spokane who's, who's dealing

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with these issues, they see some new

form of fentanyl come into the community.

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And, every iteration of it seems more

monstrous than the one before it.

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So yeah, that shifting nature of

it is very, is very troubling.

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you had a connection with Antonia,

and you knew that her sister

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had died, of a drug overdose.

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What was it like for you to

approach her with this story

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and, how did you pitch it to her?

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Well, we had talked actually about

doing a story, back when I still

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was working at advanced Care.

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But it just didn't work out Okay.

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You know, we both got busy with life and

our jobs, and it didn't come to fruition.

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But this time around, it was something

that, my editor had given me the go

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ahead on because we had discussed how we

would do this, from a local perspective.

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And so I approached Antonia, I'm sorry,

I can't remember whether I called her or

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texted her, but I reached out to her and

told her, this is what I wanna do, and I

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think it would be a better story if you

would be willing to talk about Jasmine.

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And because this is an issue that's

so near and dear to her heart.

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She said, yes, she would.

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She was very forthcoming.

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Her and her mother were basically

open books and said, ask, ask

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us whatever you wanna ask us.

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So you kind of like.

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You already had the willingness

established and you had a

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relationship with Antonia, and so

you had some trust built there.

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How did you go about being just,

you know, and, and like, I think

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you, you really humanized Jasmine.

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I think there's like, actually

I wanna, pull up your story

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and read the lead from it.

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It talks about Jasmine's art says

in the illustration, a woman's hair

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blows in the winds obscuring her face.

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At first glance, the strategic

shades of black and gray make the

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image look like a computer graphic,

but is hand drawn with pencil.

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That creativity is one aspect of

Jasmine Irene Martin that her older

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sister, Antonio Patterson would

like people to remember her for.

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And so you got like some really intimate,

like you were able to look at her art and

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you were able to like, you know, plump

some really like intimate details from her

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personality and bring them into the story.

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How did you go about being

like empathetic with them and.

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What questions did you ask?

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Right from the beginning, we were able

to set the tone that, and this was very

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important to Antonia and Tish, and, it

was something I wanted to put at the

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forefront was that, Jasmine was a human.

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She was somebody's sister, somebody's

daughter before she was an addict.

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And, I think that's something I think

you hear, across many stories about

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addiction or someone who's struggling

is that it's really easy to just

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boil them down to a statistic or

just go straight into the drug use

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and, how that affected their life.

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And it was really

important to, to all of us.

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I think that, people see

Jasmine, for who she was.

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I mean, addiction was something

that ended her life and obviously

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it, it, was something that she, she

struggled with, but, you know, she,

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that was just a facet of her life.

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It wasn't the whole thing.

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So it was really important to

me to try and get details into

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the story that reflected that.

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Can you, can you tell us

exactly what happened?

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It's spelled out in the story,

and if you, if you wanna go read

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it, it's on range media.com.

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But, yeah.

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Can you, can you, can you talk to us

about exactly the, the, the sequence of

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events that led up to Jasmine's death?

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I will do my best.

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To summarize, Jasmine was.

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By everyone who knew her, described as

very bright, very loving, very loyal.

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She was really into athletics.

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In high school, she was named

all league and softball.

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It sounded like that people

had a lot of affection for her

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and she really enjoyed school.

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And then when she graduated, she

got her certified nursing assistant

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certification and she was, doing her art.

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And then from what I was told, she

met someone in the community, a local

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boy who basically, from what Tish

told me, gave Jasmine the idea that

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fentanyl was just like smoking weed.

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And according to Antonia and Tish,

the change was almost overnight.

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How she went from this seemingly

vibrant, funny, outgoing person to.

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Like self isolating, not engaging

with her friends and family as much.

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Tish said that when she came over

to her house, she noticed that

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something was really off with her.

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And she had told her mother that

she was, doing marijuana dabs and

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Tish, who is a recovering, drug

addict herself, 16 years sober.

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She said that she knew right off

the bat that, you know, no, that's,

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that's not what's happening here.

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It's something else.

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And, Tony and Tish said that

like she was very evasive.

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Like if they would try to

approach her, like, are you okay?

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Is everything all right?

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Like, she just didn't wanna talk about it.

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Or she would find ways to

skirt around the subject.

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And then one day it was, actually

Jasmine's birthday month.

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I think it was 2023 if I'm

remembering the story correctly.

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Antonia and their other sister

Jordan had taken Jasmine out to a

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bakery here in Spokane, just like

a little birthday celebration.

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And it was during that day that

both Jordan and Antonia just came

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right out to her and said, like,

we're really worried about you.

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Something is wrong.

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And Antonia said that Tisch just

started to, no, excuse me, that

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Jasmine just started to cry, because

she was just so ashamed about her

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addiction, which is just heartbreaking.

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Antonia said that Jasmine

thought that, her family would be

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embarrassed by her, that they would

judge her for where she was at.

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And they just really,

really wanted to help her.

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Hmm.

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And it sounds like she

really tried for a while.

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The part in the story that, um, well

there's many parts in the story where

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I, that touched me deeply, but, when

they talked about her trying to get

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sober where she was going to a methadone

clinic in Coe d'Alene, and for those

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who don't know, COE d'Alene is about

an hour away from Priest River.

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So she would have to wake up at four

o'clock in the morning to drive an

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hour to Coe d'Alene to get to the

clinic at five o'clock and stand in

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line for an hour until the clinic

opened at six to get one pill.

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And the pills were distributed on

a first come, first served basis.

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And she tried, she tried

for a long time, but.

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That's not sustainable.

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And so she stopped going.

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And I think you saw, when you were

editing my story, you saw the line

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in there where Antonia said it was

easier for her to get fentanyl and

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drugs than it was to try and get sober.

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And I, and I wanna dwell on that

a little bit later, but, but yeah,

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like it's extremely difficult to,

to like access mental healthcare.

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Exactly.

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Exactly.

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And that unfortunately seems to

be a repeated lament across the

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board whenever we're talking

about these kinds of subjects.

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She's in a situation where she's waking

up at four o'clock every morning.

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Obviously that's something that's

not sustainable for most people.

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What happens after that,

when she stopped going?

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Um, I believe, I'm jumping

around in time here a little bit.

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So, um, at one point she was living

at Camp Hope here in Spokane.

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And Tisch was doing, and so camp, so just

for people who weren't around Camp Hope

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was a homeless encampment on, I believe

it was third Avenue in Spokane kind

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of between Spokane and Spokane Valley.

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And it was a huge issue, in

the local business community.

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There were several stores nearby

that really didn't like the fact that

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there was a homeless encampment there.

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It was a massive focus of news,

attention, attention from the state.

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It was on, I believe, department

of Transportation property and

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eventually they had it cleared.

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It was there for, I think

at least a year and a half.

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It's a little bit before

my time in Spokane.

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I'm a little hazy on the details,

but camp Hope was a huge deal here.

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Any intersection with that just kind

of shows, especially with people from.

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Places that are kind of far away shows

how prevalent that issue is, especially

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for people who are struggling with

addictions to opioids, other drugs.

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Um, but yeah.

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Sorry, go ahead.

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No, thank you for putting that in there.

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That's good context.

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Uh, Tish was going down and visiting

her regularly as much as she could.

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At Camp Hope, yeah.

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Okay.

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And, she said that Jasmine

would apologize a lot.

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Like, I'm, I'm so sorry I'm this way.

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You know, I'm, I'm, I'm so sorry that

I'm putting you all through this.

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And, Tish just said that you

know, it, it's where you're at.

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I love you.

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Yeah.

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I just want you to be safe.

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I just want you to be okay.

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Until one day she said that she

went there and Jasmine wasn't there.

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And no one could tell her where she was.

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And so, Tish and the rest

of the family just went.

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Moved mountains to try

and find where she was.

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They were calling hospitals.

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They were calling police departments.

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They were calling, morgues.

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They were just putting

notices out on Facebook.

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They were putting up flyers,

trying to find out where she was.

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How, how long did this go on?

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I think it went on, Tisha Antonia, if

I've got the timeline wrong, I apologize.

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I think it went on for

like a couple weeks.

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Okay.

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So just like somebody disappears off the

face of a planet for at least days, right?

333

Right.

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Okay.

335

Right, exactly.

336

And from what I understand before that,

it had been pretty easy for Tish to

337

get in contact with her at the camp.

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'Cause she did have a cell phone too.

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Okay.

340

And then one day, Jasmine showed back

up and she had, staples in her head.

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And she had no idea that

anyone was looking for her,

342

but apparent, oh, go ahead.

343

Where did, where did she show back up to?

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I think she showed back up to the camp.

345

Okay.

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Again, I know Antonia and Tish are going

to listen to this later, so if I've

347

gotten that wrong, please let me know.

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But I believe she showed

back up to the camp.

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Okay.

350

And she had been beaten up

and robbed when she was high.

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So she had no idea she

had Staples in her head.

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Yeah.

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And she just had no idea.

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So she'd been brutalized and had

gone to the hospital at some point.

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And, I believe it wasn't long after

that that when she moved into the

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trailer on Tisha's property in Priest

River to try and get sober again.

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And from there it sounded like

everything was working out.

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She wasn't hanging around with the

people she used to do drugs with.

359

She was doing her artwork again.

360

It looked like she was doing a lot

better, physically and emotionally.

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Tish said that she and Jasmine

would talk every evening.

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Tish would go out to the

trailer, like, how was your day?

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And they would just visit with each

other and they would talk about their own

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struggles with sobriety and addiction and

just in general, check in on each other.

365

And it was the evening of

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Tish said that, that night she didn't

go out and talk to Jasmine because

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her other daughter, stormy, who is a

teenager, wanted to spend some time

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with her, some quality time, like

watch a movie, cuddle on the couch.

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And Tisha was like, you

know, she's a teenager.

370

That moments like that

rarely happen anymore.

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So of course I said yes.

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And when they were done with the movie,

they were tired, so they went to bed.

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Next day Tish got up early for Sunrise

service at the church he used to go to

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in Old Town, which is also in Idaho.

375

And since it was so early, she was

like, I'm just gonna let Jasmine sleep.

376

She went and did her thing, came

back from church service, and her

377

daughter Stormy, said, you know,

I just got up not that long ago.

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I haven't seen Jasmine yet.

379

So Tish went to the trailer, knocked

on the door, didn't get an answer.

380

Knocked again, still no

answer called Jasmine's name.

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Not getting any response.

382

So she said that she looked

through the window and she could

383

see Jasmine in bed, but she wasn't

moving and she wasn't responding.

384

And so of course she got more frantic,

stormy heard what was going on and

385

came outside and Tish told her, you

know, get ahold of our neighbor.

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Something's wrong.

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Neighbor came over and they were able

to force open the door of the trailer.

388

And she said that she hurried

over to Jasmine and grabbed her by

389

the shoulder and turned her over.

390

And she said she knew right

then that she was gone.

391

It was around not long after that.

392

Antonia and her sister Jordan

were at their father's house in

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Cleed for Easter breakfast and.

394

Tish called her ex-husband's cell

phone, which they all thought was

395

strange because, you know, they

were exes, they didn't Right.

396

Communicate that much.

397

And so Jordan answered the phone and,

Antonia said that Jordan's face got

398

really pale and then she hung up the

phone and she said, well, Jazz's dead.

399

Mm-hmm.

400

And Antonio, her first response to me was

like, well, no, she's not like something.

401

You heard that wrong.

402

Whatever you thought you

heard it was incorrect.

403

So she called tis back and

tis was sobbing and screaming.

404

So of course they got in the

truck and they immediately drove

405

over to Priest River, which is

about roughly 15 minutes away.

406

Okay.

407

From Cleed.

408

And yeah, Antonia said that they

got there and she saw a bunch of law

409

enforcement vehicles by the trailer,

but she didn't see any ambulances and

410

she knew right then that Jazzy was dead.

411

Because if, if there had been any,

any chance of reviving her, there

412

would've been an ambulance there.

413

A medical response.

414

Yeah.

415

Yeah, exactly, exactly.

416

And Tish did say that they gave her Narcan

when they found her, but she says that

417

the details get really fuzzy after that.

418

She really doesn't remember much.

419

She doesn't remember calling

9 1 1 or, anything really that

420

happened that much after that.

421

She said it was just kind of a nightmarish

haze that she was moving through.

422

She said that it was just, um, one aspect

of the story that really got to me was

423

during the interview like Antonia was.

424

Well, she was just kind of recalling,

like she was not necessarily

425

teasing her mom, but like you

were really angry, weren't you?

426

Like at the policeman that was coming up

to them and she was like, yeah, I was.

427

And it was not against him

specifically, but it was just the

428

fact that he was coming over to

tell her what she already knew.

429

Yeah.

430

That like her daughter was dead.

431

And since then they've just been

trying to honor Jasmine's memory by

432

bringing awareness to the issue of

fentanyl and the lack of, resources

433

in rural areas for people who are

addicted, who want to get sober.

434

And, how are they, how

are they doing that?

435

Tisch volunteers with this new nonprofit

in our area called Heart Bridge.

436

There was a Heart Bridge event last

year in Old Town where they had a

437

table where they were passing out

information about, fentanyl and, Narcan

438

and what you can do in a situation

if you find someone who's overdosed.

439

And they're very open, they're very

trusting, they're willing to share

440

their story with anyone who asks.

441

And, they're hoping to branch out and

talk to more people, talk to maybe some

442

officials, and share Jasmine's stories and

hopes that it can do some positive change.

443

And Jasmine's death is still

being investigated, correct?

444

Correct.

445

Yes.

446

They do not know where

she got the fentanyl.

447

There was evidence in her trailer

that she had been smoking it, but

448

they don't know where she got it.

449

So I wasn't able to get any more

information than that because it is a

450

case that's still under investigation

and it's been more than a year.

451

And you don't have any answers?

452

Not yet, no.

453

So this is a very like, I think

that detail from your story really

454

struck me as I just illustrating how

impenetrable this issue is because,

455

you know, we know that we have police

who are investigating, how these drugs

456

get trafficked in our communities.

457

But when they get to the end point,

it just seems like there's no.

458

Did you talk to police who were confident

about whether they were gonna figure

459

it out or do you have any sense of

what's gonna happen with the case?

460

Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get

ahold of anyone from Idaho State Police.

461

Oh, that's right.

462

Yeah.

463

I remember that note in your story.

464

But I think it's something that, I'm

definitely going to follow up on.

465

I would like to hear from them, or

at least get them on record as to if

466

they can say where they're at right

now or if they do have a suspect.

467

The, priest River Police

Department was really helpful.

468

Their chief Drew was really forthcoming.

469

You have many quotes

from him in your story.

470

And it's this, a lot of this didn't make

it into the story, but just, I think

471

there was like a month where they had

in the span of the same month, like

472

they had a fentanyl overdose in Priest

River, and then they had another one.

473

The person didn't pass away, thankfully.

474

And then the very same month, like one of

their, I included this part in the story.

475

Their, uh, deputies was across the border

in Newport at the local McDonald's just

476

getting a milkshake in his off time.

477

And the staff recognized

him as a police officer.

478

And they're like, there's someone in

the parking lot who's having an overdose

479

and again, in, in less than a month.

480

And I know that might not be

unique for a lot of places.

481

I'm sure that there are similar

stories out there like this.

482

But for our little community, it's a lot.

483

What's the population of Preser?

484

Oh gosh.

485

I.

486

I here I can look it up.

487

Yes.

488

Let's look it up real quick because

I don't wanna give the wrong number.

489

No worries.

490

I included the populations of Ponder

and Bonner County, or excuse me,

491

Bonner County in my stories, but

not of Priest River in Newport.

492

So Priest River, there's 1800

493

And I think in Spokane, you know,

you go walk down the street and

494

it's not unheard of to just, be

walking and see somebody overdosing.

495

But we have a population of, actually,

I don't know the population of

496

Spokane off the top of my head.

497

It's, uh, something like 200,000.

498

Let me, um, that seems like,

that seems like a correct number.

499

Let me verify that.

500

Yeah, it's 230,000, which is like.

501

And Spokane even feels like a small town.

502

People will say it's a

big small town, right?

503

Like everybody knows each other.

504

And a place like Priest River to have

multiple overdoses so close to each

505

other, that just seems like, I think

this is kind of where I want to go with

506

this is like, I think there's a notion

that drugs and transients and like all

507

kinds of, you know, things that kind of

intersect with homelessness, obviously.

508

Jasmine was in Camp Pope for a while,

and how that intersects with, drug

509

usage, our like evil, big city problems.

510

Mm-hmm.

511

But I think it, it seems like

it's, moving out into the rural

512

communities and you've lived.

513

In that region of the state for,

I mean, not in Idaho, but you've

514

always lived in Washington, right?

515

Yes, sir.

516

Yeah.

517

But you've lived in areas

like that for a long time.

518

Does it seem to you like it's

getting worse out there too?

519

Or is the trend following

the city of Spokane?

520

Good question.

521

I feel like it is getting

worse in some respects.

522

Like if you look at my story, I broke

down, I think it was the past four years,

523

the number of deaths in Bonner County

and Ponder County due to overdose, and

524

how many of those involved a fentanyl.

525

And it doesn't seem like a

lot at first glance, but for

526

our population, I think it is.

527

It's not something like

you, you could go for.

528

Years and not have an overdose

like that as a cause of death.

529

I do think though, that it's a problem

that's maybe not on the scale and there

530

might be those out there who are more

knowledgeable, who disagree with me.

531

Perhaps not on the scale, but one thing,

and I'm sure you've heard it too, like,

532

like you alluded to, there's a tendency to

think of this as like big city problems.

533

And in the town where I was born,

Colville, they are having their own

534

issues with, a homeless encampment.

535

Something I hear a lot from people is not

so much in Newport, but you hear where,

536

well, you know, they're busing homeless

people in, and I never know who they are,

537

but they're bringing homeless people into

our community, which brings drugs and

538

brings crime and et cetera, et cetera.

539

I think people don't realize that.

540

It's like, well, a lot of these people

are, like Jasmine, who grew up in Priest

541

River and went to school in Priest River

and you know, with Antonia and Tisha's

542

permission, we put some of the story

and photos up on our social media and

543

it got a lot of response because a lot

of people know her and know her family.

544

Yeah.

545

So I think it's really tempting

to look at it as this, you know,

546

this, um, vague other world,

uh, almost otherworldly problem.

547

Like, that's not us.

548

Right, exactly.

549

That doesn't happen here.

550

When it does, it really does.

551

And I think, until we get more

acknowledgement from, our local leaders.

552

And to be fair, there are a few of our

local leaders who are very invested in

553

this subject, and they know that it's a

problem and they wanna do something about

554

it, like Drew McLean and Priest River.

555

until we get more people to

acknowledge that, it's like,

556

oh, this is not a them problem.

557

This is an US problem too.

558

And maybe it doesn't look the same as

it does in a big city, but it's here

559

and it, you know, it's affecting people

that you know, that you grew up with.

560

That you grew up with.

561

Yeah.

562

And there's nothing that says that,

it can't affect you, you know,

563

because this person, Jasmine Martin

was again, someone who was considered

564

very vivacious and very beloved and

has a, life history in the community.

565

Yeah.

566

I mean, her roots are intertwined with it.

567

And it happened to her.

568

Yeah.

569

And Tish says in the story, she's

like, of all my children, I thought

570

she was the one who I would never have

to worry about this kind of stuff.

571

Mm.

572

Yeah.

573

So you, you mentioned

numbers, and I pulled them up.

574

So the number of deaths attributed

to drug overdoses in Ponder County.

575

In 2020.

576

There were two.

577

In 2021 there were four

two involving fentanyl.

578

2022.

579

Four total.

580

One involving fentanyl, 20 23, 4 total.

581

Three involving Fentanyl.

582

2024, six total.

583

Four involving fentanyl in

584

Bear with me on these numbers.

585

Four total.

586

Two involving fentanyl.

587

20 21, 1, no, fentanyl.

588

2022.

589

Three.

590

Two involving Fentanyl, 20 23,

2 both involving fentanyl and in

591

20 24, 5, 2 involving fentanyl.

592

So gen generally you see.

593

Both the number of overdoses increasing

and you see the involvement of fentanyl

594

in those overdoses in increasing, it's

not a perfect line, but it's like,

595

that's, that's kind of the trend, right?

596

can you talk a little bit.

597

We, we meant, we alluded to this

before, nationwide, there are like,

598

like, uh, opioid overdoses are

decreasing, which is a welcome trend.

599

Can you talk about the numbers

involving the Pacific Northwest?

600

And obviously DC is involved too.

601

But I think it's mostly concentrated here.

602

Yes.

603

Yes.

604

It does seem to be

mostly concentrated here.

605

I think, forgive me if I'm getting 'em

not, I think Wyoming is one of them.

606

It's like Washington, dc, Wyoming, and

then it comes over to like western states.

607

Yeah, yeah.

608

US Washington, Oregon, Alaska, and

I'm not exactly sure why that is.

609

I know that there are some people

who think that it's our drug laws.

610

Mm.

611

There was, which are perceived

to be fairly permissive, right?

612

Yes.

613

Yes.

614

Exactly.

615

That perhaps it is our permissive

drug laws combined with the, the

616

notion that the infrastructure to help

people, you know, really isn't there.

617

I mean, I shouldn't say that.

618

It's there, it exists.

619

There are people who are working really

hard to help those who want help, but,

620

unfortunately, more often than

not, it seems like those, and I'm

621

sure you hear about that here in

Spokane, that those resources are

622

overwhelmed and that it's a lot.

623

Yes, absolutely.

624

Yes.

625

That it's more resources are needed

in terms of mental health and, the

626

availability of beds to go to rehab

if someone needs to go to rehab,

627

that those just aren't here now.

628

That, that's my theory.

629

That's kind of what I see.

630

Again, there may be people out there

who disagree with that, but, I can't

631

speak for Oregon or Alaska, but it

seems to be quite the issue here.

632

Well, just anecdotally, I was

really struck by this idea that

633

Jasmine had to drive an hour south.

634

At four o'clock in the morning

every day to, access her care.

635

And obviously, like you said earlier,

that just seems unsustainable.

636

I've been doing some reporting on a couple

of young men who, um, were supposed to be,

637

uh, were they were supposed to be getting

services from a local health provider that

638

has contracts with, local hospitals, has

contracts with, local apartment complexes

639

and with the city and county government.

640

They were supposed to be getting daily

visits from, a peer support professional

641

and they weren't getting those visits.

642

And both of these young men, one

of them lived in an apartment,

643

in kinda like North Spokane.

644

And his.

645

Tendency there ended in

a standoff with police.

646

Because he was having an

episode and he was like, he

647

was threatening his neighbors.

648

Then the second person who came into

that same apartment complex, actually

649

the same unit, um, was having,

was working with the same company

650

and was also not getting visits.

651

And his tendency there ended also

in a police standoff that ended

652

like he died in a police, standoff.

653

They, they shot him.

654

Which strikes me as a really

poignant illustration of like how,

655

uh, how, um, just like how, how not

up to the task of addressing the

656

mental health crises that exist.

657

Our local systems are, this company just

didn't have the resources to provide.

658

I'm sure there are other factors at play.

659

I'm still investigating that, but this

story made me think of that story.

660

It's everywhere.

661

You talk to a lot of

people for this story.

662

You talk to a lot of like

law enforcement people.

663

What did they say about that?

664

Did they, did they, is there, like, do

they feel like there's any one reason

665

for why, what's happening is happening?

666

Or is it like Yeah, tell, tell me about

what they, what they told you including,

667

the priest, preser Police Chief.

668

Chief McLean said that, accessibility

to those resources are harder for

669

people in rural areas to come by.

670

And we were talking about this earlier

in terms of accessibility to officials

671

in your community, and sometimes there's

a lay of bureaucracy, in the case of

672

Chief McLean, he is incredibly open.

673

You can go into the police department

and ask if he's there and if

674

he's there, he'll talk to you.

675

You know, you can call him.

676

You were, you were, you were telling

me earlier that you can just walk into

677

the department and say, is Drew here?

678

Exactly.

679

Yeah.

680

Yeah.

681

And he is.

682

We're really lucky to have him.

683

And he comes at this from a very

compassionate standpoint because he has

684

talked to people who have told him that.

685

It's like, well, if people don't wanna

get better, then that's their own fault.

686

Like, why are we wasting money on buying

Narcan to save these people who don't

687

wanna be saved, et cetera, et cetera.

688

And like he said, the story, and he

told me, he's like, well, you know,

689

if it was my kids in that situation,

I would hope, I would hope that

690

someone out there would save them.

691

I would hope that there was

the resources for that person.

692

If they were, if my children, one of

my children, God forbid, we're having

693

an overdose, then someone out there

would know how to use Narcan and see

694

that and jump in and save their lives,

regardless of their own feelings.

695

And whether or not they, and I'm saying

this with air quotes because of, obviously

696

you can't see us, but regardless of

whether or not someone was worthy and.

697

I think, again, that goes back to

what we were talking about earlier in

698

terms of the stigma of drugs and how

that plays out in a rural community.

699

Especially when you want to get better and

everybody knows what's going on with you.

700

And so there might be reluctance on some

of their parts to hire that person who

701

is trying to get better, to give them

a job, to give them another chance.

702

It's really easy to fall back in with

the same people that you were doing

703

drugs with because it's obviously,

it's hard to establish your life again.

704

It's hard to make those connections

with people who, are not using

705

drugs, et cetera, et cetera.

706

And to go back to your question, excuse

me, um, in terms of the availability

707

of those resources, in Newport, in

Ponder County, we have Ponder County

708

Counseling, which has, support groups

for people who are struggling with

709

addiction whether they're there because

they've walked into ponder County

710

counseling and said, I need help.

711

I need an assessment.

712

I wanna stop doing what I'm doing,

whether it's that or they've

713

been sent there by the courts.

714

That resource is there.

715

Unfortunately, because it is in

Washington, even though, we're right next

716

to each other, we're next door neighbors.

717

They can't service people who

live in West Bonner County.

718

So again, for people who are in

West Bonner County, you most likely

719

have to travel an hour for service.

720

And if you're, if you're working, you

know, if you're just trying to get by

721

to by, in your day-to-day life, like all

of us are, and you're struggling with

722

addiction, the likelihood that you're

able to travel an hour and keep that

723

going isn't very realistic or sustainable.

724

What I hear you saying is like,

there's a divide in resources

725

between the two states, right?

726

Idaho doesn't have as many

Washington, you know, for all of its,

727

shortcomings, which there are many.

728

It seems like there are more

resources here, which is one

729

of the factors that I think.

730

Or that I've heard a lot of

people say draw unhoused people,

731

people who are addicted to

substances to Spokane specifically.

732

But you talked a little bit

about, you know, the stigma.

733

Like does this person deserve, like

if they're choosing to use drugs, like

734

do they deserve to be happy and live?

735

In your experience, and I don't

know if you can speak to this or

736

not, like you might not be able

to, do you feel like there's also

737

a divide in the stigma between the

two states as well as the resources?

738

That's a good question and

deserves further exploring.

739

I, I'm not entirely sure.

740

I feel like there are less, obviously,

less resources in Bonner County.

741

I'm sure that there are, there are support

groups where people can meet, but it's,

742

to my knowledge, it's not structured like

it is through pore County counseling.

743

Like there's no place in West Bonner

County where they can walk through

744

and, and get that kind of help.

745

And if someone hears this who is

in Bonner County and you know,

746

otherwise please correct me, but,

and get in touch about stories.

747

Exactly, yes, please,

please reach out to us.

748

Um, but in terms of that stigma,

I honestly think it straddles

749

both sides of the border.

750

There is more awareness

about it than there was even

751

five years ago, I would say.

752

There are figures in our communities,

both sides, Bonner and Ponder County,

753

who, you know, this is an important

issue to them and they are trying

754

to get more awareness about it and,

more resources available to people.

755

I think that underlying stigma

that some people have of, you know,

756

who gets addicted to drugs, why

they get addicted to drugs, who

757

deserves help, unfortunately, I

think that's still very much there

758

in some pockets of our community.

759

And it's kind of, sadly, it's one

of those things that, for some

760

people, until they experience it

themselves, if, if they experience

761

it themselves, they, they probably,

well, maybe that's not fair to say.

762

They probably won't understand, but

it's just, it seems like a harder

763

perception to shift, if that makes sense.

764

It's just kind of like an, an

entrenched understanding of human

765

nature that doesn't seem like it's

really penetrable at all Exactly.

766

At the moment anyway.

767

Exactly.

768

And I think that in a more rural

community, I think that ties into our

769

ideas of, ruggedness and being more

independent and, why people move away

770

from the city in the first place.

771

Because again, like we don't

have those problems here.

772

And it's like the classic idea

of like rugged individualism.

773

You have to make your own way, play

yourself up by your bootstraps,

774

work hard, like, and it's just like

775

the facts on the ground seem

to suggest that human nature

776

doesn't really work that way.

777

It would appear so, yeah.

778

the chocolate chip cookies analogy.

779

Yes.

780

Yes.

781

Can you describe that?

782

Yes.

783

Actually Antonia brought that up too.

784

And, I think I might've said in,

originally in my, the rough draft of my

785

story, like, chief McLean said that to me.

786

Mm-hmm.

787

Drew and, like he acknowledged, he's

like, this may sound cheesy, but it's, it

788

is a good allegory for what, people are.

789

Potentially getting, when they buy

fentanyl, like when, um, when a

790

pharmaceutical company manufactures

fentanyl for the legal purposes

791

of medication, you know, there's

very strict guidelines that they

792

have to follow about the amount of

medicine that goes into each pill.

793

That, that's one thing we should

know is like fentanyl is a medication

794

that's used to make people feel

better in certain medical situations.

795

Like in some cases it's legal.

796

Um, absolutely.

797

On the street.

798

It's not, yes, exactly.

799

And this is one of the

reasons why Yeah, exactly.

800

Exactly.

801

When, illegal fentanyl is manufactured,

and this is where the, chocolate

802

chip cookie analogy comes in, there's

no proper measuring of ingredients.

803

So it's like a chocolate chip

cookie where, you know, you just.

804

Throw in your chocolate chips and

one cookie may have like three

805

chips and another may have like 20.

806

And just be overloaded with them.

807

And that's pretty much what you're getting

when you purchase illegal fentanyl.

808

You could get a pill or you know, a, a

source that has very little in it, so

809

when you take it, nothing happens to you.

810

You just get high or it could kill

you the very first time you use it.

811

Mm-hmm.

812

It's the, the extremes

there are pretty drastic.

813

You don't know what you're getting

when you buy fentanyl on the street.

814

Exactly.

815

And because it's easier for, drug

manufacturers, like, excuse me,

816

drug cartels and drug dealers to

mix it with other things like.

817

Marijuana or cocaine or what have you.

818

You really don't know if what

you're getting is fentanyl

819

or it has fentanyl in it.

820

You think may, oh, I'm just

buying some cocaine, but maybe

821

that's cut with fentanyl too.

822

Drew said that that happens quite a bit,

you know, and, um, he also, excuse me,

823

he acknowledged that, sometimes when

they pull people over, whether it's

824

like they're speeding or they've got a

taillight out or they've got a warrant

825

for something else, you look in the

backseat of the car and there's just

826

like burnt tinfoil everywhere, which is

one of the methods of using fentanyl.

827

Um, uh, burnt 10, excuse me,

burnt tinfoil and empty Narcan.

828

And that's, he wanted to point

out like that's how strong it is.

829

Like a lot of these people know it

could kill them, but it's so they

830

have Narcan on hand in case they.

831

Start to overdose.

832

Exactly.

833

They know it, but it's so strong, it's

so addictive that it's hard to stop.

834

And I think that's where

the cookie comes in.

835

Well, thank you so for

this conversation, Sophia.

836

It's a really good story.

837

I know you worked really hard on it,

and we appreciate the journalism.

838

That's our time this week,

so I'm gonna close this out.

839

Free Range is a weekly news and

public affairs program presented by

840

Range Media and produced by Range

Media and KYRS Community Radio,

841

thanks so much, Sophia.

842

We'll see y'all next week.

843

Thank you.