BILLINGS — The Montana Meth Project, a statewide organization, announced its campaign against fentanyl this week, in partnership with Red Ribbon, the nation’s largest drug-use-prevention campaign.
The campaign will consist of teacher and student contests, which will continue through Oct. 31.
Watch to see why the organization is pushing the campaign:
Teachers who show a free video lesson to their class can enter to win a $500 Stockman Bank Visa gift card.
Students who join the #NotEvenOnce #OnePillCanKill Pact can enter into a drawing for a free Labubu, a viral doll that will be dressed in a #OnePillCanKill t-shirt.
“We're the only meth prevention lesson that is recognized by the Red Ribbon Campaign. And as early as this week, they have just added our newest asset, the fentanyl prevention lesson, to their national resources. So, anyone in the country can use these educational materials and again learn the risks about both meth and fentanyl now as a result of the work that the Montana Meth Project has done,” said Montana Meth Project Executive Director Amy Rue.
The Montana Meth Project has campaigned against methamphetamine use for 20 years, but in the last two years, they have added opioids, especially fentanyl, onto their radar.
“Fentanyl really didn't even come on the scene until about 2020, 2021,” said Rue.
Fentanyl is now the second most trafficked drug in the country, behind methamphetamine.
Rocky Mountain High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (RMHIDTA) found 69% of Drug Trafficking Organizations (DTOs) possessed fentanyl and 76% possessed methamphetamine, according to recent findings.
Rue said the Montana Meth Project learned through their partners in law enforcement that opioid overdoses are on track to reach record levels in Montana this year.
Her organization is moving the campaign into schools to offer early drug-use prevention and bring the overdose levels down.
“As the drugs are being offered to them, so too, prevention must be offered to them at a younger age and stirring those conversations with seventh and eighth graders, whereas a decade ago we would focus on ninth through 12th,” said Rue.
Opioids have become accessible to youth in Billings, according to Billings Assistant Fire Chief of EMS Jason Banfield.
“What we're starting to see with just opioids in general is some prescribed opioids that are not destroyed. And that's where some of the youth… the teenage groups and the early 20-year-olds… find those medications in someone's home,” said Banfield.
Yellowstone County has seen 126 total reported drug overdoses this year so far. Seven of those overdoses were fatal.
The county is on track to see more overdoses this year than in 2024, which had 148 reported drug overdoses and four overdose-related fatalities.
Banfield suspects the number of overdoses could be higher, but many have gone unreported.
“People are afraid to call 911 because it's a drug use issue. And so, they feel like they're going to be penalized. And we don't want that. We want them safe,” he said.
