Klobuchar, Craig join local leaders to highlight efforts to combat fentanyl abuse

Addressing the opioid crisis, including the growing fentanyl problem, will require work on multiple fronts to curb drug trafficking, educate youth and make treatment for addiction available.

That was the message at a news conference in Inver Grove Heights on Thursday that brought together U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, U.S. Rep. Angie Craig, Dakota County Sheriff Joe Leko and local families and activists.

"We know that the opioid and drug use epidemic is affecting communities throughout our state and across the country," said Klobuchar, who visited in part to highlight the STOP 2.0 Act, a bill she recently introduced to curb the number of illegal opioids entering the U.S. It aims to penalize people who intentionally misrepresent the country a package comes from.

Klobuchar noted that opioid overdoses killed more Minnesotans in 2021 — 978 — than car crashes. She added that the problem has only grown since then.

"These are more than just numbers or trends, they are sons and daughters," she said, later explaining that she wants to focus on stopping the trafficking of opioids and treating addiction.

Craig mentioned Devin Norring, a Hastings graduate who died in 2019 of an opioid overdose when he bought what he thought was Percocet on Snapchat. Bridgette Norring, his mother, was in attendance.

"Kids in our communities are literally being poisoned," Craig said.

Craig said tackling the crisis will require new technology — including at ports of entry to the U.S., where 97% of fentanyl is seized — and taking a stronger stance against countries like Mexico and China, where many of the drugs originate.

"We've got to crack down on the supply chain," she said.

The Dakota County Drug Task Force seized a quarter-million pills — mostly opioids — in the first quarter in 2023, Leko said, double the amount seized in all of 2022. And he noted that drug deals aren't all on street corners, but also on social media.

"Law enforcement alone will not resolve this crisis – it's all hands on deck," he said.

Colleen Ronnei, a Chanhassen resident, shared details of her work educating youth about the dangers of opioid use through her nonprofit, Change the Outcome. She founded it after her son, Luke, died of an overdose in 2016.

She said kids need more education about drug use.

Over half of the 20,000 kids she's talked to this year didn't know pills could be counterfeit, she said, and 70% thought they would be arrested for calling 911 during an overdose. Most also didn't know about Naloxone, which can reverse an overdose's effects.

We "can instill so much knowledge, and students are hungry for it," she said. "They're hurting and they're losing their friends."