SALT LAKE CITY — “If I wanted to break the generational addiction, it had to start with me.”
Mysti Lopez started using methamphetamine at just 15 years old and it instantly turned into an addiction.
“I come from generational abuse, generational addiction," Lopez said. "There were no hopes and dreams outside of that criminal box that I was shown.”
Lopez is one of hundreds of people who have gotten their hands on fentanyl in Utah. She says at one point, she gave up hard drugs for over 10 years but then relapsed.
“The minute I stepped foot back into it and was looking for it, I could find it that day. It’s on every corner, at every gas station, it’s everywhere,” she explained.
Lopez is not the only one who knows how accessible fentanyl is in the state, which Governor Spencer Cox admits is a growing issue.
“There’s enough fentanyl coming into this country in just a couple days to kill everyone in this country,” the governor said Tuesday.
In 2018, Utah authorities seized 1,600 fentanyl pills measured in dosage units. By 2020, that number surged to nearly 1,500. Three years later, pill seizures exploded to nearly 2 million pills.
Cox believes fentanyl is potent and more accessible than any other drug, and deaths in Utah are only increasing.
“The number of fentanyl deaths doubled more than between 2019 and 2020," shared Cox. "The number of overdose deaths in 2023 reached [the] highest number in Utah at 606 deaths. 290 of overdose deaths in 2023 were fentanyl-related.”
To address the issue, Cox introduced a new task force focused on tackling the fentanyl crisis in Utah.
Utah is partnering with statewide leaders to brainstorm solutions, expand task forces, track down trafficking networks, introduce more educational programs and treatment initiatives, and figure out the social, economic, and psychological influences driving fentanyl use in the state.
Cox and the task force are determined to break the cycle by providing addiction treatment and programs like Drug Court to individuals who are newly released.
He understands this isn’t an easy or short process.
“It may take 2, 3, 7, or 10 tries to break the cycle and to get out of it. And that’s okay,” Cox said. “It doesn’t mean you’re a terrible human being because you tried and you failed. It means you’re a human being.
"We just can’t give up on people.”
No one gave up on Lopez.
She’s someone who went through Drug Court and addiction treatment and came back out a new person. Lopez opened a treatment center with her husband to provide safety and resources to those struggling the way she did.
“There’s a huge stigma for people who have suffered from substance abuse," she shared. "They think once a criminal, always a criminal. Once an addict, always an addict. But I’d like to break that barrier."
In response to Cox's task force, the Utah Senate Democratic Caucus accused him of trying to "politicize the fentanyl epidemic." They say his claim — that the influx of fentanyl is due to border policies — is false. They say this "demonizes immigrants" and that the governor's words are "harmful scapegoating of a community for political gain."
"We urge Governor Cox to prioritize solutions and collaboration over political posturing. The fentanyl crisis is a matter of public health, not partisan politics," their statement read in part.
