BUTTE — Just under the beauty of Montana, of her Mining City, lurks a killer.
Fentanyl is posing a serious danger across the U.S. The drug, which is 50 times more potent than heroin, kills an estimated 150 people a day across the United States.
Montana is not immune to the danger, with deaths reported across the Treasure State - Between 2020 and 2024, 796 Montanans died from unintentional overdoses, with 345 deaths, or 43 percent, caused by fentanyl. In Butte, 21 people died, making Silver Bow County the highest death rate per population in Montana.
But, behind every overdose statistic is a family changed forever.
Butte parents demand answers after son's fentanyl overdose death amid Mining City's addiction crisis
The parents of a Butte man who recently died from a fentanyl overdose are furious and are demanding to know why overdose deaths continue to plague the Mining City after years of record-high death rates.
"This is the hoodie he was wearing, and so it’s the closest I get to be with him, " says Heather Holland, as she cradles a gray sweatshirt and talks about her son.
"That first second before you wake up, before your eyes open, you’re awake, but your eyes aren’t open. You get sort of a smile inside because you think, ‘Oh, I just dreamt that, that was a nightmare," says Holland.
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Her son, Aaron McArthur, died from a fentanyl overdose in September. Holland says every morning when she wakes, she experiences the soul-shattering realization that the death of her 33-year-old son is not a dream, and she becomes angry.
"I’m mad. I can’t...I’m sitting here and I’m sad, but I’m mad now. These people need help. These families need help."
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Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte says the state is making progress in addressing addiction, but acknowledges that the increase in suspected overdoses remains very concerning as communities across the fourth-largest state face varying challenges with scarce resources.
"Addiction, overdose and behavioral health are really two sides of the same coin. This is why we appropriated $300 million for behavioral health in the state. We're working on building additional facilities, upgrading the facilities we have," Gianforte said.
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Aaron battled addiction for years, beginning with a dependence on a common sleep medication that progressed to the use of illicit drugs. He spent time in a rehab facility in Kalispell two years ago, but his family says he was caught up in a vicious cycle of addiction. Before his death, he had been clean for 9 days, but Heather says finding help to treat his addiction was impossible.
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"Five people overdosed the night my son overdosed. Two of those died, and one was my son," says Heather. She says one barrier to her son's decision-making process to seek help in rehab is the fact that Montana does not have a program that helps people struggling with addiction who also have pets. She says her son didn't want to abandon his large mixed-breed dog.
"Aaron called him TiTi, and I got him two days after Aaron’s passing. He chipped away a little bit of the blackness in my heart," says Mark McArthur.
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On a recent snowy morning, Mark walks Aaron’s dog Titus by the property where his son died. He recounts the last day he saw him. Aaron was pale and sweating. Mark says he was in severe pain from withdrawals.
"I begged him to get in that van. His dog did. He was so ill, and I just couldn’t get him there."
One year ago, Aaron was one of six people who experienced a fentanyl overdose and was saved by Narcan, a drug that reverses an overdose. Butte-Silver Bow initiated distribution of the drug and began providing training classes for the community. Aaron’s grandmother, Mary Rowe, was taking the class after Aaron and another grandchild overdosed.
"It’s ruining lives, and we’ve lost a lot in this community, and we’ve saved a lot Narcaning them but then you can only do it if you’re there," says Mary as she volunteers at her weekly shift at the soup kitchen.
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Since January 2025, the Butte-Silver Bow Health Department reports that they have trained 64 people to administer Narcan. They have also distributed over 1,400 boxes of the drug.
In the spring of 2025, the state announced that it would spend $400,000 on Naloxone kiosks, but Butte does not have a kiosk.
State data indicates that overdose deaths in Butte are higher than state and even national averages.
In October of 2022, a fentanyl and Opioid Crisis Declaration was issued for Butte-Silver Bow by Governor Greg Gianforte and Butte-Silver Bow Chief Executive J.P Gallagher.
“Our community has always been known for our Can-Do attitude and spirit. It is our hope that what we create will be a model for other communities to follow. I appreciate the support and the governor and his willingness to help in our efforts. We are all in this together,” said Gallagher at the time.
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A hard-hitting 6-month social media and advertising campaign sponsored by the Town Pump Foundation was planned to be the first of many strategies to combat the crisis.
The Town Pump Charitable Foundation announced a $100,000 donation to launch a “shock campaign” to increase awareness within the community. The campaign includes targeted advertisements on YouTube, Hulu, Snapchat, and other platforms.
“The opioid crisis is affecting Butte and communities throughout Montana. A partnership between state and local government is our best hope to change behavior and save lives,” said Butte-Silver Bow Sheriff Ed Lester, a member of the Butte community fentanyl action team.
Montana law enforcement officials say that one of the reasons illicit drugs enter the community of Butte so often is because of its position at the crossroads of two interstate systems that run from coast to coast and border to border.
"A large amount of the illegal drugs that enter Montana, they enter via a vehicle, a passenger vehicle or a commercial vehicle," says Steven Crawford, the narcotics bureau chief for the Division of Criminal Investigation at the Montana Department of Justice.
Montana's drug task force reveals how interstate highways create drug trafficking corridors through Butte. See how law enforcement is responding to this growing challenge.
According to Crawford, the approximate amounts by year for SWMDTF for the last three years show that the team has seized 30,111 grams of meth, 20,000 grams of fentanyl, 5,700 grams of cocaine, and 92 grams of heroin. Crawford says the numbers are only for drugs seized by the task force and may not capture all drugs seized in the region.
Earlier this year, a special agent with the DEA's Rocky Mountain Field Division said Montana is a fentanyl pipeline.
“Really, if you can imagine it, they have found a way to sneak it across. Once it’s across the border, Interstate 25 (which runs from Arizona to northern Wyoming) is a direct pipeline right up here to Montana,” says Special Agent Jonathan Pullen with the DEA’s Rocky Mountain Field Division.
“A pill in Mexico is produced in Mexico (costs) from two to four cents. That same pill in Denver might sell between two and five dollars per pill—an incredible markup when it only costs two cents to make it. By the time that pill makes it to the Blackfeet Indian reservation, it can be sold for as high as $120 for one pill. An incredible markup, incredible amount of money to be made by these criminal groups that are selling this poison,” Pullen says.
Pullen warns that just one fentanyl pill is capable of killing.
“Half of the pills that the DEA seized last year across the United States had a deadly dose of fentanyl in it, so fentanyl itself is incredibly deadly. Only two milligrams is enough to kill me or you,” he says.
If you or someone you know who is struggling, please call 988.
A critical component of the task force’s mission is working with local law enforcement, but as long as addiction is present within a community, traffickers will prey on those who are suffering.
"There is no question that the opioid crisis is a terrible thing, and when people are caught up in that, it is a tough thing to kick, and so we have these traffickers that are preying on people that are stuck in those throes."
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The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) reports that just two milligrams of fentanyl can be lethal, and one gram can kill up to 500 people. In 2023, 107,000 overdose deaths were attributed to opioids, predominantly fentanyl.
Encouragingly, trends show a decrease in drug overdose deaths. All but five states witnessed declines in overdose fatalities last year, with a significant 23.8% drop from September 2023 to September 2024.
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Fentanyl blamed for increased property crimes in Butte
No one is witnessing the fentanyl problem in the Mining City more than those who are on the frontline – the police officers. It’s increasing crime in Butte-Silver Bow and also making police work a little more complex.
“It’s turned where we were drug counselors, and now we’re medics administering Narcan to people, we’re therapists, we’re taking on so many roles,” Butte Sheriff Ed Lester said.
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With Butte having the highest per capita overdose rate in the state for Fentanyl, police say this highly addictive drug also brings increased crime.
"You see kids, or even grandsons and granddaughters who are addicted to Fentanyl or methamphetamine, they burglarize their parents' house, they burglarize their grandparents' house, they're committing financial crimes in the community, there’s some violent crimes, property crimes,” said Lester.
The sheriff says it’s no surprise that meth and fentanyl are behind much of these property crimes.
“Everybody says the border’s closed. I’ve not seen any less drugs on the street nor has any law enforcement officer that I know seeing any less drugs on the street,” he said.
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Police can’t arrest their way out of this issue. Lester believes early education and intensive treatment are needed to curb the addiction problem.
“We even have treatment in our detention center with suboxone to take people down from opiates and to keep them at a therapeutic level even when they’re out on the streets so they have time to get out on the streets and get to a counseling center or a medically assisted treatment center,” the sheriff said.
MONTANA METH PROJECT ANNOUNCES CAMPAIGN AGAINST FENTANYL
The Montana Meth Project, a statewide organization, announced its campaign against fentanyl this week, in partnership with Red Ribbon, the nation’s largest drug-use-prevention campaign.
The campaign will consist of teacher and student contests, which will continue through Oct. 31.
Teachers who show a free video lesson to their class can enter to win a $500 Stockman Bank Visa gift card.
Students who join the #NotEvenOnce #OnePillCanKill Pact can enter into a drawing for a free Labubu, a viral doll that will be dressed in a #OnePillCanKill t-shirt.
“We're the only meth prevention lesson that is recognized by the Red Ribbon Campaign. And as early as this week, they have just added our newest asset, the fentanyl prevention lesson, to their national resources. So, anyone in the country can use these educational materials and again learn the risks about both meth and fentanyl now as a result of the work that the Montana Meth Project has done,” said Montana Meth Project Executive Director Amy Rue.
The Montana Meth Project has campaigned against methamphetamine use for 20 years, but in the last two years, they have added opioids, especially fentanyl, on to their radar.
“Fentanyl really didn't even come on the scene until about 2020, 2021,” said Rue.
Fentanyl is now the second most trafficked drug in the country, behind methamphetamine. Rue said the Montana Meth Project learned through their partners in law enforcement that opioid overdoses are on track to reach record levels in Montana this year.
If you or someone you know who is struggling, please call 988.
Click here for Naloxone information and other Opioid Use Disorder information
FOR INFORMATION ABOUT MONTANA'S SUBSTANCE USE DISORDER SERVICES AND RESOURCES, CLICK HERE
