OPIOIDS

Bill requiring opiate antagonists on public campuses passes

Chloe Farnsworth — Tue, 01 Jul 2025 02:05:06 GMT

ST. PAUL / PIPESTONE — During the spring of 2023, Will Rops, of Pipestone, was visiting the Minnesota Capitol for a student government event as a member of Minnesota State University Moorhead’s student senate.

“I just kinda decided to stop into my legislator’s office because I had gotten this idea for a bill,” Rops said. “They really liked it and they were shocked that we weren’t already doing it.”

Rops talked to Sen. Bill Weber (R-Luverne) about requiring public post-secondary institutions to maintain a supply of opiate antagonists, such as naloxone, on system campuses.

Rops, who will attend grad school this fall at South Dakota State University for school counseling, had the idea after losing his brother in 2022 to a fentanyl overdose.

“That was really, really hard for us,” he said. “That’s why I felt so much joy for it (when it passed) and why I had so much motivation to do it, because if it weren’t for him, this bill would not exist. No question. There wouldn’t be a bill.”

When Rops first introduced the idea to Weber, it was too late to be implemented into the 2023 legislative session.

“When we started again this year, I reintroduced the bill and it was heard in both the higher education committee as well as the HHS (Health and Human Services) committee,” Weber said. “Then, it was ultimately put into the higher ed omnibus bill at that point. We had one hearing on it last time and then I had two hearings on it this year and it got included.”

Rops testified at one of those hearings in February.

“It was a little bit nerve-wracking,” he said. “It was exactly how you picture it with the fancy leather chairs and the table… but it went really well. It’s something that I’m very passionate about because of the death of my brother and how it impacted my family and my community. ... I felt pretty bold for lack of a better word.”

The bill passed during the special session in June as part of the higher education omnibus bill, which also addresses funding for institutions.

“I give a lot of credit to the testimony of the young man (Rops) who had brought the issue to me,” Weber said. “(He) actually testified once in person and once via Zoom in both committee meetings and gave obviously a very impactful testimony having witnessed what his family went through with the death of his brother… It was an emotional testimony and a very touching testimony that he gave. He really did the heavy lift on it as far as that was concerned.”

Rops said not having opiate antagonists on Minnesota college campuses was a massive oversight. According to him, Minnesota already has Narcan, a brand name for naloxone, required in K-12 schools.

“An elementary school is required to have Narcan doses on-site,” he said. “But they didn’t have any requirements for colleges/universities. It was just a massive oversight and I felt relief (when it passed) because there were people overdosing in dorms.”

Rops said there was proof of students overdosing on Minnesota State College campuses. “I felt relief for the fact that they would have Narcan on-site to help them,” he said.

He also wants people to know how accessible Narcan is.

“It can save a life and it’s easy for you to carry,” he said. “You could put it in your purse, you could put it in a backpack, you can put it in your car and just have it because you never know.”

Rops said there are no drawbacks to using Narcan.

“We got to stop this stigma that Narcan can be abused in some way,” he said. “That’s not true at all and there’s people that think that, but it’s just not true. As much access to it as we can have as possible is what we need. Everybody should carry it.”

According to Weber, by this fall, public post-secondary institutions should be including those opiate antagonists emergency doses in residential units on campus.

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Allocation of opioid settlement dollars determined by the Beltrami County Board

TJ Rhodes — Wed, 04 Jun 2025 21:45:10 GMT

BEMIDJI — A recommendation to distribute opioid settlement funds to five local organizations was approved by the Beltrami County Commissioners on Tuesday.

The opioid settlement is state funding that is distributed around the state to aid local organizations in combating the opioid epidemic through reimbursements.

Local organizations applied by showcasing projects that could utilize the funding, along with a dollar request. Then, the Opiate Steering Committee, comprised of 17 different community members, reviewed the applications before drafting a recommendation that was presented by Public Health Director Amy Bowles.

Beltrami County applicants will receive a total of $70,050. Face it Together will receive $10,000, the Bemidji Fire Department will receive $4,050, Stellher Human Services will receive $21,000, the Nameless Coalition for the Homeless will receive $30,000 — the maximum — and the State of Minnesota Drug Court will receive $5,000.

The commissioners unanimously approved the recommendation as presented on Tuesday after initially delaying action.

The recommendation was first presented during a May 20 county board meeting. District 5 Commissioner John Carlson removed the recommendation from the consent agenda to cast a separate vote.

District 2 Commissioner Joe Gould motioned to approve it and District 4 Commissioner Tim Sumner seconded. Carlson followed with a motion to table, which sparked confusion. County Attorney David Hanson clarified that a motion to table takes precedence over a motion to approve, leading to the 3-2 vote to table.

District 1 Commissioner Craig Gaasvig, District 3 Commissioner Scott Winger and Carlson voted in favor of tabling the motion. Gould and Sumner opposed the motion.

Community leaders who rely on the opioid settlement fund expressed concern over this decision.

Isabella Schaefer, owner of the Recovery Space LLC, will not benefit from this year's settlement. However, she spoke during public comment, pleading with the board not to delay action any longer.

"My business has an operating budget of $0," Schaefer began. "As a person with lived experience, I can appreciate the board wanting to take as much due diligence in the dispersion of our funding. However, people are dying. Any delay in the release of funds prevents our organizations from continuing to provide or begin providing new and emergent services."

Carlson was the first commissioner to speak about the recommendation.

"I just would like to thank the public for their patience for the two week time period that I specifically asked for," Carlson said, "to be able to check the process to make sure that I was satisfied that we were following the Memorandum of Understanding with the state, that all the allocations were done properly so we didn't get any trouble later on."

Carlson spoke in favor of the recommendation, citing positive communication with the Public Health Department and community leaders who rely on the funding.

"I really want to thank Amy Bowles ... for taking the time to go over that with me," Carlson said. "I also want to thank (Face it Together Executive Director) Chris Earl. I had expressed to Chris that I was a little dismayed that maybe we didn't fund 100% of his project, if maybe somebody else got 100%. At the end of the day, Chris said he's grateful to get something.

"I did find that there's some synergy between Face it Together and the Nameless Coalition for the Homeless and The New Day Center, so that was very, very exciting. Whatever grants are going to the Nameless Coalition could maybe, in some way, still help Face it Together."

Gaasvig asked why some organizations that applied a year ago did not apply this year. Bowles explained that organizations have 18 months to spend the funds, meaning some do not need another round of funding yet. She also stated that no organization expressed any issue with the application process.

Carlson motioned to approve the recommendation. Gould seconded and the board unanimously approved the motion.

At a later date, Beltrami County will distribute another round of funding meant to combat the opioid epidemic.

Housing development projects

The board also approved a Beltrami County Housing Trust Fund Cabinet recommendation for two housing development projects.

North Star Neighbors, a community land trust, is a Northwest Minnesota Foundation program designed to develop more affordable housing units in the area. North Star Neighbors submitted both of the approved requests.

The first asked for $300,000 to construct two affordable, single-family homes, beginning this summer. The second request asked for $220,000 to construct eight affordable, single-family homes, starting this year and concluding in 2027.

The second request is less than the first because funding was secured. The Cabinet will fund the remainder of the projects.

The recommendations were approved in a 4-1 vote — Carlson only supported the second request, citing cost concerns, and voted against the motion.

"I'm in favor of the proposal for the eight units," Carlson began, "but I can't be in favor of spending $300,000 on two houses. It just doesn't seem right to me to spend $300,000 on two houses when I think that there's an opportunity for larger developments that we could we could leverage our money (toward). I don't know that the immediacy of having two more houses in one year is going to make that much difference."

Winger later chimed in to say that housing projects are too important to pass up, especially if they are affordable.

And Sumner discussed the importance of supporting commissions that make such recommendations.

"We have a housing need in our community," Sumner said. "I don't withhold funds if there's already a plan in place.

"To me, it seems like if we are going to continue to question folks in these committees that do their work on our behalf, then maybe we should just dissolve all the committees and do all the work that they're doing. I can guarantee you that a lot of these folks who sit on these committees are more of an expert and knowledgeable about these types of things than us. I think that's why it's important that we support the people who do the work and bring their decisions and recommendations to us."

Board action

The board also passed revisions to Solid Waste Ordinance 13, which will take effect on Jan. 1, 2026. The revision will include minor changes to definitions, formatting and terminology.

The board then approved a new mailbox support policy. This policy will follow current practices by the county, including the replacement of private mailboxes that are damaged by county snow plows and the furnishing and installation of swing-away mailbox supports.

The board also approved a project that will replace all non-conforming mailbox supports along county roads. The project is fully funded by a grant, and the county will look for bids in 2026. Public Works Director Bruce Hasbargen believes this project will be complete by September 2026.

The newsletter committee submitted a newsletter policy to officially guide what can be published within the county newsletter, which is mailed to residents and published on the county website. The new policy was approved by the board during the meeting.

The commissioners will next meet at 5 p.m. on Tuesday, June 17, in the County Board Room, preceded by a work session at 3 p.m. All meetings can be viewed on the county's YouTube channel.

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Condemnation resolution for CSAH 20 project approved by Beltrami County Board

TJ Rhodes — Thu, 22 May 2025 18:21:07 GMT

BEMIDJI — A myriad of topics, including an update to the County State Aid Highway 20 Road Construction project, were discussed during the Tuesday Beltrami County Board meeting.

The CSAH 20 project, taking place on a stretch of Birchmont Beach Road between CSAH 21 and County Road 414, has been in the works for roughly seven years and is expected to begin next year.

A few issues surfaced once the Public Works Department began researching the right-of-way. These issues were resolved, aside from one, which requires more work.

In the 1920s, a portion of the project area's right-of-way was not designated to the county during work done at the time. Instead, it still belongs to the 1920s developer.

"The underlying land was never deeded over to the county, so that was just found when we started looking at this project," Public Works Director Bruce Hasbargen said. "We've assumed we've had that right-of-way since that time. We would like to get that cleared up."

Thus, Hasbargen requested that the board approve a resolution to utilize condemnation, a court proceeding to determine the property owner.

"Condemnation would provide the right of way in the timeliest manner," Hasbargen wrote in a memo to the board. "In condemnation proceedings, the county makes a case that there is a transportation need for the right of way and if granted, we immediately have the right of way. The valuation of the acquisition is done separately and is the only decision that can be appealed."

District 2 Commissioner Joe Gould requested the board table the item to a later date to hold a larger discussion, potentially adding a public hearing.

"I wonder if we shouldn't table this resolution, just stepping back and looking big picture at everything that's going on in our county and city and neighboring townships," Gould said. "I've never had a good feeling about this road project since the start of it. Never been a big fan of eminent domain and condemnation. I just think this is government overreach and too much bureaucracy, and we're opening ourselves up for yet another lawsuit with this."

District 2 Commissioner Scott Winger chimed in.

"I just wanted to clarify the condemnation," Winger began, "isn't removing anybody from a home or anything like that. I just wanted to clarify that."

District 5 Commissioner John Carlson added to the discussion.

"This is a couple of parcels of land, a few parcels of land that aren't owned by any existing landowners," Carlson said. "All the existing land owners have already agreed to transfer over their property. This is not government overreach. This is resolving an issue that's been ongoing for over 100 years, just because someone forgot to file a title. It's not taking any land that we didn't already have and used for the last 100 years."

Ultimately, the board approved the resolution 3-2, with Gould and District 4 Commissioner Tim Sumner opposing.

Board action

During the work session, the commissioners heard from Public Health Director Amy Bowles regarding the annual opioid settlement funding allocation.

These Beltrami County funds are used to support local organizations in an effort to deal with the opioid epidemic. The board was asked to approve up to $70,050 to be distributed to five local entities — Face it Together, the Bemidji Fire Department, Stellher Human Services, Nameless Coalition for Homeless and the State of Minnesota Drug Court — during the consent agenda.

The motion was not approved in the consent agenda; instead, Carlson moved it to new business and then led a 3-2 vote to table the item for a later date.

"Generally, I would be in favor of following a committee's recommendation; we typically do that," Carlson said. "I did still have a couple of questions, and I didn't find that there was necessarily an urgency to do that this week. I would really love to table this until next meeting, so we get a little bit more opportunity to see those proposals between now and then.

"I think generally I'm going to be in favor of it, but I just really would like to have that two-week period to do that."

When it came up in new business, Sumner made a motion to approve and Gould seconded. Then Carlson made his motion to table the item, which sparked confusion. County Attorney David Hanson then clarified that a motion to table takes precedence over a motion to approve, leading to the 3-2 vote to table. Sumner and Gould were the dissenting votes.

“We're not experts in mental health and drug addiction," Gould said. "There was a committee of experts from the community, from Health and Human Services, from the sheriff's department (deciding where the money should be allotted), we should not invalidate their work.

"A lot of these organizations' budgets are $50,000, $100,000, so this money is more important to them than it is to us. These are people who are hurting in our community, as you know. These are other organizations that can provide services that the county doesn't provide right now."

The board will likely revisit this topic during the next meeting.

The board approved its consent agenda, but one item was revisited at the tail-end of the meeting. This item, which asked the board to approve a bid to construct a bike trail between Bemidji High �� and Jefferson Avenue, did not have an attached bid amount. Hasbargen later found that the bid was greater than the project budget.

Thus, the board was required to rescind its consent agenda vote, reopen it to remove the item and hold two separate votes to approve the consent agenda and amend the bike trail item.

The amendment allows Hasbargen to make cuts to ensure the bid is affordable. Sumner posed two motions to table the discussion for the next meeting, but was unsuccessful. The amendment passed 3-1. Gould left the meeting early and was not present for the vote.

The board discussed Beltrami County's Shoreline Management Ordinance, which is being updated. Updates are to streamline the ordinance, making it more user-friendly. Two more steps must be taken before the ordinance can be adopted, including a public comment and conditional approval from the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. These will happen before the board approves the newly drafted ordinance.

The county's Solid Waste Ordinance is being updated as well.

On June 3, the board will hold a public hearing where constituents can learn about and discuss changes.

The commissioners will next meet at 5 p.m. on Tuesday, June 3, in the County Board Room, preceded by a work session at 3 p.m. All meetings can be viewed on the county's YouTube channel.

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1880s opium trail infected city-folk and pioneers alike, across states and the Dakota Territory

C.S. Hagen — Fri, 11 Apr 2025 13:30:00 GMT

ST. PAUL — At the corner of Sixth and Cedar streets in St. Paul stood a small wooden building. Once a home for the area’s first European settlers, rain, snow and sunlight had baked the wooden panels until it looked “as if another storm will blow it away,” according to a Minneapolis Journal article published in 1888 about the opium trade.

“The only sign of life is a wreath of smoke which rises spasmodically from the chimney and the regulation yellow sign which reads: Poon Wung, Laundry,” the Minneapolis Journal reported.

Poon Wung, a jolly man, "sleek and fat," was the owner of the laundromat, a front for a “

hop hung

,” or opium den. Inside the shack’s front door was an empty room, and a curtain hiding the entrance to the “heart of the joint,” where Poon sat at a small table, smoking a cigarette, and sipping tea.

For two bits, or 25 cents, Poon used an ivory paddle to scoop thick, black paste onto a used playing card. A pipe, a tray and a metal wire were included for the den that could hold six people on clean bunk beds.

“The dim light from three little lamps over which the ‘fiends’ are cooking the drug which spits and sputters as it is turned on the wires, sending off a poisonous, sickening odor, the ghastly faces of the occupants of the bunks, intensified in the semi-darkness, and the great shadows outside the feeble circles of light, make a picture at once weird and demoniac,” the Minneapolis Journal reported.

Every month, Wung made about $25 per customer, according to the Minneapolis Journal, or about $836 in 2025 dollars.

“When Poon first settled in St. Paul he was very poor. Now he is not only rich but he ranks as one of the most influential Chinamen in the state,” the Minneapolis Journal reported, adding that his establishment was under police protection as long as he didn’t cause trouble and closed by 10 p.m. every night.

Every night, Poon’s laundry opium den filled with the poor and elite, city dwellers and pioneers.

At the time, many news reports blamed the opium epidemic on China, a country they claimed was bent on revenge for being forced to trade silks, teas and luxury goods for opium with foreign merchants.

But the Chinese weren’t the only ones smuggling and selling opium in the 19th century; they became a convenient scapegoat, news articles published at the time pointed out. People from all walks of life and cultures saw profit in the illicit trade, and from 1878 to 1888, opium production in Canada destined for the United States increased from 11,000 to 102,000 pounds, according to the Oakes Times.

“Oriental vengeance,” was one headline that the Jamestown Weekly Alert published in 1890. “A civilized nation (Great Britain) compelled China to use opium. China in return has presented the world with a pipe for use in smoking the drug…” the article stated.

“Opium smoking is no longer continued to the back rooms of Chinese laundries. It has gone beyond that now, and finds its home and its white patrons in more luxurious quarters,” the Jamestown Weekly Alert reported.

Bottineau, North Dakota

At 50 years old, Archibald Curran found himself in a difficult spot shortly before Christmas in 1888. A former lake steamer captain, he was tall, sported a “heavy iron gray beard,” and had the “appearance of a man of varied experience and one who has seen much of the world,” according to the Bismarck Tribune news story published Dec. 25, 1888.

He was hoodwinked by A.E. "Leonard" Neilson, a Canadian, who showed up at his house saying he had traveled from Manitoba and his “horse was so weary that he could go no farther,” according to a statement he made to the the Bismarck Weekly Tribune.

Neilson asked Curran for help: bring multiple large wooden boxes — packed with household goods — to Bottineau and ship them to Denver for a small fee, according to the Bottineau Currant. The crates, however, were filled with nearly 400 pounds of opium, worth a total of about $11,200, the equivalent of about $374,517 today, and were confiscated in St. Paul.

Curran’s name was on the paperwork, and federal agents lost no time tracking him down.

“The mysterious goings in and out on the part of Uncle Sam’s customs officers during the past week culminated in the arrest and detention of Archibald Curran…” the Bottineau Courant reported on Dec. 20, 1888.

“The smuggling case now being tried in this city is one of the most interesting in the history of the courts of the territory,” the Bismarck Tribune reported on Christmas Day 1888.

Smoking opium wasn’t technically illegal at the time, so Curran and Neilson were charged with attempting to defraud the government out of tax revenue, according to the Bottineau Courant.

“I am a victim of misfortune. I am guilty of no intentional crime or connection with that opium smuggling,” Curran told the Bismarck Weekly Tribune after his arrest.

He spent more than three months behind bars, but in March 1889, Curran was released. Neilson, however, was sentenced to seven months imprisonment.

“It is believed that the action in the case of Curran means that he will furnish evidence which will lead to the arrest of the entire gang which has been engaged in smuggling opium for years. It is undoubtedly a gigantic combination and their dishonest gains reach into the millions,” the Dickinson Press reported in March 1889.

Deadwood, South Dakota

On Chinese New Year's Eve in 1885, Wing Tsue — real name Fee Lee Wong, who in 2012 was entered into the Deadwood Hall of Fame — put a large cauldron of lard on the fire. He planned to fry up Chinese doughnuts, most likely breadsticks called

youtiao

. He was a controversial businessman — having been arrested for owning an opium smoke house in 1880 — who owned a two-story house that doubled as a gambling joint and an opium den, a crime in Deadwood decades before opium was outlawed in the United States.

City leaders in Deadwood passed a law banning opium sales in the early 1880s, but the legislation had the opposite desired effect, according to the Bismarck Tribune.

“The city council passed a stringent ordinance against… selling opium for the purpose of smoking… which amounted to just about what all such laws and ordinances usually do. It has not decreased the smoking of opium in the slightest degree,” the Bismarck Tribune reported on June 2, 1882.

Early on Feb. 12, 1885, Wong’s pot of lard caught fire, quickly engulfing Wong’s Wing Tsue Bazaar, according to the Deadwood Daily Pioneer. A southern wind fanned the flames and before firefighters arrived at least 12 rookeries, slum-like shacks, were reduced to cinders, according to the news story.

Wong’s store was destroyed. He lost more than $800 cash he had squirreled away, while about $400 in gold in a tin box was later recovered.

“The fire accomplished what the grand jury have so far failed in doing, as it suppressed, temporarily at least the opium habit. Of the great number of opium dens that formerly graced our city, all of them have gone up in smoke with a single exception,” the news article reported.

Despite the financial loss, Wong stayed. He rebuilt, but with stone instead of wood. Ten years later, his name hit the newspapers again when Deadwood police raided five Chinese opium dens, arresting 17 people from China and two white men, while confiscating eight pounds of opium and drug paraphernalia, according to the Deadwood Daily Pioneer.

Wong was one of the people arrested, but after posting $200 bail for everyone arrested, he continued his mercantile business, arguing that opium was for medicinal purposes, and never lost his reputation for being a shrewd and well-respected businessman.

The smugglers

Before opium became an illegal drug in 1909 inside the United States, the problem from a government perspective wasn’t the drug itself or the addiction that followed; it was that smugglers were avoiding $12-per-pound duties on the product, according to multiple newspaper reports.

On Feb. 9, 1909, the Smoking Opium Exclusion Act was passed, effectively banning the importation, distribution and use of opium for smoking. The laws were tightened in 1914 when the US Congress passed the Harrison Act, which taxed the production and distribution of cocaine and opiates, according to Congressional records.

The ban did nothing to stop the spread of opium, however; by 1911, opium smuggling rings in Minneapolis were “widespread,” according to the Duluth News Tribune.

Opium smuggling provided a rich opportunity for large profits. During the 1910s, one tin of opium from China cost about $2.50 to produce, and the same tin smuggled into the United States sold for more than $120, according to a news article published by the Grand Forks Herald.

Much of the product was smuggled in from the north through Canada, south from Mexico, and west through Hawaii and then on to San Francisco where customs officials worked closely with smugglers, according to news articles in many newspapers in the 1910s. From there, the narcotic spread throughout the United States.

Smugglers used ingenious tactics to hide their narcotics, according to the Cooperstown Courier. Opium pills wrapped in oil paper were concealed inside limes; tins the size of biscuit cans were hidden in containers of salt fish. Opium tins were also tied to floating sticks to bypass customs offices.

At times, opium was secreted in by sailors and then sold to railroad sleeping car porters, according to a 1911 news article in the Minneapolis Journal. Drugs were found in women’s hair, sewed into men’s hat bands, contained inside artificial limbs and automobile tires, and frequently found at the Canadian border in collars worn by dogs, according to the Austin Daily Herald in 1921.

By 1921, Americans had an “enormous annual… consumption of habit-forming drugs,” totaling more than 500,000 pounds of opium and 100,000 ounces of cocaine every year, according to a 1921 article published by the Minneapolis Journal.

‘King of the dope ring’

Police became suspicious of a Superior, Minnesota man named Frank Insco after observing him taking packages from a porter aboard a train from Canada twice a week.

Superior police then alerted federal authorities at the Internal Revenue Service, who then raided Insco’s home in 1921, according to the Duluth News Tribune.

During the raid, agents discovered thousands of dollars worth of opium and cocaine inside his house, part of which had transformed into an opium den, according to the Duluth News Tribune. Insco’s primary customers were wealthy women of high social status who “had become slaves to the drug,” and prominent men from Duluth and Superior.

Not long afterward, agents raided another opium den, the Sam Lee Laundry on Tower Avenue in Superior, and arrested Woo Ou after finding $200 worth of opium behind a secret shelf beneath a table, according to the Duluth News Tribune.

Both arrests led to the downfall of the area’s opium smuggling, and Insco, so-called “king of the dope ring,” whose drug empire stretched from eastern Canada to the Pacific Coast, according to the Minneapolis Star Tribune.

Insco pleaded not guilty on eight counts of violating the Harrison anti-narcotic act, and gave a statement to the Duluth News Tribune in 1921.

“I may have been a ‘king’ for a week or two, but the kings change so rapidly that only those addicted to dope know who their master really is,” Isco told the Duluth News Tribune.

Insco was found guilty of selling drugs and was sentenced to 366 days imprisonment at United States Penitentiary Leavenworth in Kansas.

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Second round of opioid remediation grants available through Beltrami County

Pioneer Staff Report — Wed, 05 Feb 2025 17:22:35 GMT

BEMIDJI — Beltrami County’s Opioid Steering Committee has once again opened up applications for grant funding and invited community organizations and partners to apply.

An estimated $70,000 is available for the second round of funding, which will run from July 2025 to December 2026. The estimated minimum amount awarded will be $5,000 and the maximum $30,000.

Approved uses of the remediation funds include treating opioid use disorders, preventing misuse of opioids, supporting those in treatment and recovery and other opioid-related harm reduction activity, a release said.

The grants will be competitive, with applications reviewed by a committee of professionals with a broad range of relevant experience.

The applications for the grants are available on the Beltrami County website and should be submitted by email to amy.bowles@co.beltrami.mn.us no later than noon on Feb. 28. Recipients of the funds will be notified by April 21.

All questions about the process and application should be directed by noon on Monday, Feb. 10, to Amy Bowles, Beltrami County’s public health director, at amy.bowles@co.beltrami.mn.us or (218) 333-8116.

These grants are a part of the funding provided by a multi-million dollar settlement with the state of Minnesota with opioid distributors and manufacturers. Beltrami County is expecting to receive $2,826,466 between 2022 and 2038.

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Minnesota, North Dakota see encouraging drop in overdose deaths, but experts urge caution

Kjersti Maday — Fri, 18 Oct 2024 23:42:27 GMT

FARGO — The nation is matching Minnesota and North Dakota when it comes to overdose deaths.

However, for the first time since 2018, the country is seeing a decrease.

Updated data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows there was a record 15% drop in overdose deaths nationally in the 12-month period ending in May 2024, but an addiction expert said it's no time to celebrate.

"We are losing too many of our citizens, losing them to overdoses," Patti Senn, the executive director at Soul Solutions Recovery Center in Fargo, said.

However, fewer people died from overdoses in 2023 in Minnesota, North Dakota and across the country. "It’s certainly an encouraging trend," Senn said.

Overdose deaths were down 8% in Minnesota and 17% in North Dakota from 2022 to 2023, according to the Minnesota Department of Health and the North Dakota Department of Health and Human Services.

The CDC projects those numbers to fall further in 2024, by 11% in Minnesota and 7% in North Dakota.

"We can't celebrate too soon," Senn said.

That's because the number of deaths are still up 85% in Minnesota and 74% in North Dakota from 2019, according to the CDC.

"For the last 15-20 years, the opioid epidemic has escalated over the years with the increase of the prescription opioids and the street drugs, as well," Senn said.

She also said more needs to be done to save more people.

"Oftentimes, people are trying to fill an emptiness, a loneliness, trying to self medicate," Senn said.

Only about 10% of addicts actually seek help, for many reasons including finances, transportation and insurance.

While she doesn't know the reasons behind the decrease in deaths, she does know the increase in treatment facilities and access to overdose reversal medications is helping.

If you or a loved one is experiencing a substance use disorder and want to get help, you can find resources through the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration website.

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Opioid Steering Committee to hold annual meeting Oct. 15

Pioneer Staff Report — Wed, 09 Oct 2024 14:45:31 GMT

BEMIDJI — The Beltrami County Opioid Steering Committee will hold its annual meeting at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 15, in the County Boardroom, at 701 Minnesota Ave. NW.

The Opioid Steering Committee Chair will share an annual review of the 2023-2024 year, plans for the remainder of 2024 and a projection of goals and next steps for 2025, a release said.

Following the presentation, those attending the annual update in person will have the opportunity to provide the Opioid Steering Committee with input on upcoming proposals within the approved activity.

For those who are unable to attend in person but would like to view the update remotely, it will be streamed and archived on the Beltrami County YouTube channel at youtube.com/@beltramicounty3669/streams.

After the meeting, the Annual Update will be published on the Committee’s website at www.co.beltrami.mn.us.

Beltrami County formed the Opioid Steering Committee to delegate the $2,826,466 the county will receive from a multi-million dollar settlement between the state of Minnesota and opioid distributors and manufacturers.

The committee is made up of county officials and members of the broader community who "offer guidance on directing settlement funds across broad categories including prevention, criminal justice, treatment, recovery, and harm reduction," a release said.

Questions can be directed to Beltrami County Public Health Director Amy Bowles by calling (218) 333-8116.

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Cass County Opioid Settlement Fund Committee to hold open forum Oct. 8

Pioneer Staff Report — Thu, 03 Oct 2024 13:35:00 GMT

WALKER — Cass County Opioid Settlement Committee will host a free community forum titled "The Opioid Epidemic - What everyone needs to know," from 6 to 8 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 8, at the Walker-Hackensack-Akeley �� auditorium, 301 Fourth St.

The forum will be a panel discussion about the awareness of opioids and other drugs in our communities from the perspectives of law enforcement, a medical professional, those with shared lived experience and public health, a release said.

Topics will include drug prevention, treatment and recovery, harm reduction and how the public can help our communities. Attendees are invited to ask the panel questions during the forum.

The lifesaving Naloxone (Narcan) will be available with training provided at no cost to those in attendance. The intended audience is adults and no registration is necessary.

Free, confidential, 24/7, 365-day-a-year treatment referral and information service for individuals and families facing mental and/or substance use disorders is available by calling 1-800-662-HELP (4357).

This event is sponsored by the Leech Lake Tribal Police, Essentia Health, Cass County Sheriff's Office and Cass County Public Health.

For more information, contact Jamie Richter, Cass County Public Health at (218) 547-6833 or email jamie.richter@casscountymn.gov.

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Bemidji Walk for Recovery combats stigma, offers support for those in recovery

Charley Gilbert — Tue, 01 Oct 2024 18:27:23 GMT

BEMIDJI — A purple sea covered the sidewalk along Paul Bunyan Drive for the second annual Walk for Recovery event held on Sunday.

With nearly 130 registered, the event was a testament to the strength of those in recovery and the community. People wore ribbons of various colors to show their support: purple to support those in addiction/recovery, green to support those in recovery and white to remember someone lost to addiction.

The event was hosted by the Bemidji Recovery Alliance, but not without the help of The Recovery Space, Sanford Behavioral Health, Northwest Indian Community Development Center, Stellher Human Services, Planned Parenthood and others.

“Something that Bemidji Recovery Alliance is really passionate about, and something that I’m really passionate about, is providing recovery that breaks and shatters stigmas,” Recovery Space Alcohol and Drug Counselor Isabella Schaefer said. “And in Bemidji, we don’t have spaces where people can just be together. I’m really hoping that recovery is something that is out loud. We’re proud — we’re not going anywhere.”

A testimony of recovery

Schaefer stands not only as an ally but also as part of the recovery community.

“I have about eight years of long-term recovery from opioids,” Schaefer shared. “I didn’t have the opportunity to get treatment and I was pregnant with my daughter when I found recovery.”

Schaefer noted that addiction and recovery can feel shameful, especially without a support system, resources and a community to lean on. Her goal is to give people the safe space she didn’t have.

“I’ve dreamed of putting on events like this,” Schaefer said. “Having people support you and be out loud makes recovering so much easier, especially when you’re someone like me who didn’t have a support network.”

When Schaefer came to Bemidji, she noticed the need for a non-judgmental space for those in recovery. She has made it her priority to meet people with compassion and support instead of judgment.

“Ever since I moved here it was really apparent that there needed to be a non-judgmental space for people to have access to resources and services — a place to meet people where they’re at,” Schaefer noted. “It’s really, really important that people see recovery is for all people. Recovery is for everyone and this event 100% embodies that message.”

Celebrating sobriety

During the event, people were reflecting on their lost ones, sharing their stories and celebrating their sobriety. The community was loud and proud; as people honked passing by on Paul Bunyan Drive, the participants raised their hands and cheered.

“Today I am 449 days sober and it was for my babies,” participant Tashina Mountain said. “I take care of eight kids. Some are my sister’s, then I took some kids in and plus I have my grandbabies.”

As Mountain was carrying her 3-year-old granddaughter, Frankie, on her shoulders, she continued to share her journey to sobriety.

“I live in Cass Lake and I got sick of seeing our people sick — one day I just decided I was done,” Mountain said. “I haven’t had one relapse. People ask, ‘How’d you do it?’, and I tell them, ‘I wanted it. I wanted to finally start living my life.’”

Mountain emphasized the importance of asking for help and the struggle of trying to fight addiction by yourself.

“Never be afraid to ask for help,” Mountain said. “I quit but I needed something more because I felt so alone. In my own recovery, it was probably the loneliest time ever when I was doing it on my own.”

After asking for help and joining new communities, Mountain is now a role model for others and shares her story openly to encourage others that recovery is possible.

“I just want other people to see that it’s possible,” Mountain said. “I’ve been going to Bemidji Baptist Church for Simple Steps Recovery for almost a year now and my family is a big support system, along with my relationships at Anytime Fitness.”

As Mountain finished the walk, she expressed how proud she was of her friends starting their recovery journey and urged people to support their loved ones in their own recovery process.

“It’s been a journey,” Mountain said. “A lot of my friends have started their journey to recovery and it’s good to see that and support them. I know that it’s a hard thing to do sometimes, but let people know that they’re not alone.”

Shattering stigmas

As the event came to a close, Schaefer shared her concerns for the unhoused people of Bemidji, who also face a great deal of adversity and stigma related to their circumstances.

“Most people don’t know this but we had a community cleanup on Friday night and we met at Face It TOGETHER Bemidji and we cleaned up the entire walk,” she said. “The folks who stay at the Wolfe Center, the unhoused folks of Bemidji, were the ones coming to help clean.”

Schaefer shared her frustrations with the narratives put on the unhoused community and how she feels they are often misrepresented, adding how complaining instead of action never leads to change.

“We have people writing into the paper about there being weeds in the roundabouts and spending all of their energy writing about it instead of going to pull the weed themselves,” Schaefer said. “In all that time you spent complaining about it, you could just fix it.”

Schaefer noted the eye-opening contrast between this attitude and the volunteers of the unhoused community cleaning up needles, foils and trash along the sidewalk and under the Mississippi River bridge.

“Last Friday we have folks who don’t have housing who are out cleaning so they can get a free meal,” Schaefer said. “People go home every night and have no idea that this type of lifestyle even exists, and I’d love to bridge that gap more.”

Recovery month

The event was a triumph in Schaefer’s eyes and she was pleased to see the camaraderie amongst her community. An unexpected success came from the event as well as September officially became recovery month for Bemidji.

“The mayor was here and he held the main banner, which was awesome to see,” Schaefer said. “We did a proclamation so September now and forever will be recovery month for the city of Bemidji. Joe Beaudreau from Sanford is a certified peer recovery specialist and he was able to get that proclamation.”

As the purple sea of folks began to pitter out, Schaefer marked the day as an overall success. The event stirred more conviction and passion in her to make Bemidji a better place, starting with the simple first step of talking openly.

“It is the goal to get people talking for us to reverse stigma and peel away the layer of shame that surrounds addiction and surrounds recovery," Schaefer left off, "we have to talk about it.”

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The Recovery Space offers person-centered approach to recovery services in Bemidji

Ashley McKenzie — Sat, 07 Sep 2024 12:50:00 GMT

BEMIDJI — Nestled in a quiet basement office of the 522 Professional Center in Bemidji, The Recovery Space LLC is offering hope and support for individuals seeking recovery from substance use disorders.

Beginning this journey in January the private practice, led by Licensed Alcohol and Drug Counselor Isabella Schaefer, is designed to provide a safe space for people to begin or continue their recovery journey. While it has been operational for months, Schaefer is preparing for a more public launch in the coming weeks.

"I'm just telling everybody that service is starting in September," Schaefer said. "I’ve been building up a waitlist for about a month now," she added.

Schaefer’s decision to open The Recovery Space came after nearly a decade of working in corporate behavioral health and realizing that there was a real need for places that allow for a more person-centered approach to recovery.

"I kind of was faced with this hard decision: Should I pursue yet another organization, or should I prioritize my family finally?" she said, "and I wanted to prioritize my own health and wellness."

The Recovery Space represents more than just a business for Schaefer — it’s a personal mission.

"I think of recovery as a state of being," she said. "I want people to be able to step into the recovery space, whatever that looks like for them, and just kind of start healing."

Harm reduction and community-based service

At The Recovery Space, harm reduction is at the heart of Schaefer’s approach. Harm reduction focuses on minimizing the negative consequences of substance use, and Schaefer is passionate about providing clients with practical tools to stay safe.

"I’m very (vocal) about harm reduction," she said, adding that she is currently working on getting a sterile syringe program set up and having a naloxone access point available.

In addition to harm reduction, The Recovery Space offers services aimed at supporting individuals through long-term recovery.

"I specialize in low-intensity services and long-term services," Schaefer explained. "I do a lot of case management ... I’ve been doing a lot of on-the-ground work, meeting up with people, seeing what their needs are."

For Schaefer, it’s about meeting people where they are in their recovery and offering them the support they need, whether that’s clinical services or community-based assistance.

Overcoming obstacles

Schaefer has faced significant difficulties in building her practice from the ground up, particularly when it comes to finances.

"I started this business without financial cushions or a large savings account," she said. "I've been trying to really be creative on how to get something going while still having a lot of barriers that maybe other people don’t have.”

Despite the difficulties, Schaefer remains passionate about her work.

"For me, it’s like a sense of belonging... I want to help people find that sense of belonging, too," she said. "I've got really powerful stories and really powerful experiences that, when used appropriately, can do a lot of good.”

As The Recovery Space prepares for its official launch, Schaefer feels a deep sense of urgency about the work ahead.

"People are dying…how can we not do something?” she remarked.

She hopes that The Recovery Space will be a sanctuary where individuals can find healing, guided by someone who intimately understands the complexities of recovery and prioritizes safety and empathetic support.

The Recovery Space is located in the Professional Center office space at 522 Beltrami Ave. NW, Suite 11. For the latest updates on the opening date, visit The Recovery Space’s Facebook page or email isabella.schaefer@therecoveryspace.com.

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