BILLINGS — The Montana Opioid Abatement Trust is anticipated to get over $75 million over 18 years as Montana's portion of the opioid multi-state Settlement.
Yellowstone County is expected to receive nearly $3.5 million over the next three years, and the Yellowstone County Metropolitan Region committee is in the process of allocating that money to support a range of opioid remediation efforts.
In the first year, Yellowstone County has $1,479,798 to grant to organizations to fight opioid abuse. In the second and third years, the county has $986,532, respectively.
On Wednesday, the committee held a public meeting to hear proposals from organizations asking for grants. Another meeting will be held to vote on who gets money, but a date has not been set.
“Seven out of 10 pills that are being confiscated (nationally) have been laced with a deadly dose of fentanyl. And again, the stakes are just too high not to warn kids about the cost and potential risks of experimentation,” the executive director of the Montana Meth Project, Amy Rue, said on Wednesday.
Rue spoke during the public comment portion of the meeting, with the goal of getting Montana Meth Project on the list of those receiving grant money.
“For the longest time, we were really steadfast in a consistent message around methamphetamine and the risks that are associated with doing meth. But we felt that it was just too dangerous not to lean into this conversation,” Rue said. "We've got to find a way to warn kids that they may think they're just taking an Adderall or as the annex of the pill may resemble something they've seen before. But the chances of being poisoned are just so great we couldn't stay silent anymore."
The Montana Meth Project has recently released new educational offerings for fentanyl awareness available in schools.
Jennifer Benjamin was also present at the meeting, in support of the Montana Meth Project.
Benjamin lost her son, Tyler, to a fentanyl overdose on Dec. 15, 2021, just three months after the Benjamins moved Tyler back into their home, trying to get him help.
"We found out he was using that September and had him come home to live with us because we thought he'd be safe. But we had no idea that fentanyl was something he was using, or we would have done things so differently. We had no idea how deadly it was and what a big problem it was in our community," Benjamin said.
The family was trying to work with the Rimrock Foundation, a treatment center for addiction, to get Tyler help. The same day the Benjamins found their 26-year-old lifeless son in their home, Tyler's phone received a call from the center.
“The drug is so powerful and so addictive,” Benjamin said. “He was everyone's kid. He was, we called him our golden child. He was surrounded by friends. We knew his friends. And he just, in high school, started struggling with addiction."
Understanding the heartbreak addiction can bring, Benjamin hopes this funding can make a difference in the community.
"For fentanyl, we need more education and awareness, especially for our younger population here in the county," Benjamin said. "People are sick of hearing about the statistics. They're sick of hearing about the drugs coming over the border because they don't think it applies to them. And we didn't either until this happened. And I know that's easy to happen when you don't think it applies to you."
