BOISE, Idaho – Idaho Governor Brad Little (R) observed Fentanyl Awareness Day at Lewiston High School on Wednesday. The event occurred in the midst of a clampdown on drug users in Idaho over the past several months.
The mother of Zachary Taylor, a Lewiston resident who died from fentanyl poisoning in 2021, joined Little the high school to discuss his administration’s response to the public health crisis.
It was a busy 2024 legislative session for Little, who signed two major policies relating to drug use and distribution.
Little signed a law imposing a mandatory minimum three year prison sentence for fentanyl trafficking. The policy was supported by Kootenai County Sheriff Robert Norris but opposed by Families Against Mandatory Minimums (FAMM). Norris argued the policy was a necessary public safety measure. FAMM disagreed.
“Mandatory minimums don’t work. Decades of the mandatory minimum experiment tells us this bill will fail to deter fentanyl related crimes and it will fail to stop overdose deaths,” FAMM said.
A second law ending Idaho’s clean needle exchange program, which was meant to decrease the spread of HIV and other transferable ailments, was signed by Little on March 22. An Idaho Department of Health and Welfare webpage offering information on safe syringe programs is not accessible online as of May 8 and reads “access denied.”
Little touted his strong relationship with law enforcement on Wednesday and said that he was focused on reducing the distribution of fentanyl over state borders.
