Opioid Epidemic

A 13-year-old has died of a suspected overdose in Spanaway while he was staying with a relative. 

More than 60,000 fentanyl pills and over 30 pounds of fentanyl powder were seized in a massive drug bust that targeted a group operating from Renton to Bellingham.  

Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell announced $7 million in funding for a post-overdose recovery facility and mobile addiction treatment services to combat the city's opioid crisis.

Health and law officials and urging the public to carry Narcan, especially after three children under the age of 1 overdosed in Everett in the span of four days.

In the span of four days, three children just under the age of 1 overdosed on fentanyl in Everett. One of those babies died as a result. 

Seattle authorities are warning the public about Xylazine, an animal tranquilizer that has already been linked to three overdose deaths in 2024.

Whatcom County has reported its first-known Xylazine-related overdose death.

Two Skyline High School students have created a fentanyl warning and PSA aimed at their peers after two fellow students died from an overdose several weeks apart. "It's more connective between peer to peer, rather than hearing it from a higher authority figure,."

A 32-year-old man from Mexico pleaded guilty Wednesday to drug trafficking tens of thousands of fentanyl pills and selling them out of a prominent homeless encampment in Bellingham. 

Tacoma Police seized over 20,000 fentanyl pills during a narcotics operation targeting an alleged fentanyl supplier. 

King County Executive Dow Constantine announced new investments and actions to address the surge in fentanyl deaths and help save lives.

Oregon is poised to step back from its first-in-the-nation drug decriminalization law with a new measure approved by the state Senate that would reinstate criminal penalties for possessing small amounts of some drugs.

The first lawsuit brought amid reports that a nurse at a southern Oregon hospital replaced intravenous fentanyl drips with tap water seeks up to $11.5 million on behalf of the estate of a 65-year-old man who died.

For about a decade, a local developer has been creating a video game aimed at inspiring women.

Kendra Sawyer spoke with her dad from the Deschutes County jail and told him she loved him. Six hours later, in the throes of opioid withdrawal, the 22-year-old took her own life.

Evelyn Jefferson walks deep into a forest dotted with the tents of unhoused Lummi Nation tribal members and calls out names. When someone appears, she and a nurse hand out the opioid overdose reversal medication Naloxone.

Detectives with the Bellevue Police Department Special Enforcement Team have arrested a man who they call a "prolific" drug dealer, accused of selling a wide variety of narcotics out of his RV. 

The Washington state attorney general announced a $149.5 million settlement Wednesday with drugmaker Johnson & Johnson, more than four years after the state sued the company over its role fueling the opioid addiction crisis.