Morgan Middle School brought together the Ellensburg school district, Ellensburg Police Department and many medical health resource representatives to talk about the trends of opioid related cases within the community. 

The event, which took place Oct. 28, was hosted by District Safety Director of Ellensburg High School Neil Musser, Sergeant Cameron Clasen and Investigator John Bean. They presented data and statistics showing the increase of opioid abuse in our community through the years, and what they have planned to counter it.

 “An amazing number of resources are available to help keep our families safe from opioid and overdose issues in our community,” Musser said. 

Musser explained the risks to public health of opioid abuse rising through the years. He said there are many different variants of opioids and counterfeits of them surfacing, and, more often than not, they find them laced with the dangerous drug fentanyl.

Sergeant Cameron Clasen from the Ellensburg Police Department, spoke of recent cases in the past that lead to cases where people would obtain some of these drugs through the dark web. 

According to Musser, the recent cases triggered the urge to really push this information and education out.

“To start educating the public, law enforcement is working on fighting against it, and the public should also know,” Musser said.