North Idaho Drug Problems

North Idaho has been a hot-spot for drugs recently and Fentanyl is one of the drugs going around High Schools. North Idaho drug rates have gone up a lot since 2020 and 2021. According to the CDA press,”Kootenai County has had the most illegal drug seizures in Idaho in recent years.” 

At different high-schools in Kootenai County, Lake City Highschool has had the most drug issues this year. Lake City High-school in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho is a large high-school with about 1,900 students that attend the school. In 2021 there have been many overdoses but not many of them have been reported. 

Micheal Stabile, a 15 year old freshman from Lake City high-school died on May 10, 2021 from a drug overdose. There have also been other drug overdose that resulted in teens’ death in North Idaho. “Police suspect three teens’ overdose deaths since the fall in North Idaho were the result of laced pills, the release said.” (The Spokesman Review). 

The Drugs that the police think some teens have been using are Laced pills with high amounts of fentanyl which is a deadly narcotic. Methamphetamine and Marajuana is also getting popular among North Idaho residents. They are becoming easier to get because of Washington being so close to Kootenai County and allowing use of Marajuana. 

Highway 95 is a connecting highway between Kootenai County and Spokane, Washington. It is only a few miles from the border. So, Police suspect that most drug users in Kootenai County get drugs from Washington. 

At Lakeland high-school there have been no deaths from drug overdoses. But, some Lakeland students have probably done drugs. There have been no reported overdoses but they have probably happened off campus. 

I asked Rachel Foreman, a junior at Lakeland high-school about the recent drug overdoses in Kootenai County and she said, “It’s pretty depressing and we should be doing more to help those people. These people are probably overdosing because of their mental health or pressure from peers.” Pressure from peers is how most teens start taking drugs and get addicted to them which could lead to an overdose. 

Drug use is very common in teens and young adults. According to Bedrock Recovery Center, “Over 20 million people over the age of 12 had a substance use disorder in 2018.” That number is way too high. In Idaho hopefully the numbers go down of teens and young adults who overdose or use drugs.