"Since Joe Biden has taken office, he's been quite strident. He and his administration have taken a lot of action that is very detrimental to Montanans," Knudsen said. "They're detrimental to natural resource development; they're detrimental to agriculture; they're detrimental to our way of life here in Montana. And I have a problem with that."
Over 100,000 people died last year from meth overdose in the United States. And in Montana, meth is largely used by illegal immigrants who come up from different areas because the border is much more porous under the Biden administration.
Knudsen noted that while whole meth is currently the number one drug problem in Montana, fentanyl is even more alarming because of how quickly it has risen in the ranks.
He shared that when he was the county attorney in Northeastern Montana back in 2018, 90 to 95 percent of his caseload involved meth. There's a lot of methamphetamine abuse in Montana, but people know precisely where all that meth was coming from, and none of it is homegrown. They are all mass-produced from Mexico and smuggled across the southern border.
Now, there has been a huge surge in the use of fentanyl – a synthetic opioid invented back in the 1970s for cancer patients. "It didn't take long for people to learn how to counterfeit it. And that's what's going on right now," Knudsen said.
The number one cause of adult death in the U.S. last year was neither the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) nor gun-related violence, despite these two being the most publicized. It was opioid overdose, specifically fentanyl overdose. (Related: Opioid drug manufacturer found to have repeatedly bribed doctors with lucrative kickbacks.)
Montana on pace to triple fentanyl cases in past three years
"We're halfway through 2022 and we are already well on pace to triple the amount of fentanyl we have seized since 2019. It is staggering."
NBC Montana reported that there were 1,900 cases of fentanyl and drug seizures in 2019, but that number skyrocketed to 37,724 cases in 2021 and there had been 111,611 cases as of June 2022.
Anti-drug task forces in Montana are also on pace to triple last year's record-breaking seizures and have already taken 58 times more fentanyl off the streets in 2022 than in all of 2019. Fentanyl-linked deaths, opioid overdose, emergency calls requiring services and firearms that have been found alongside illegal drugs are also on the rise.
Methamphetamine still remains to be a significant threat, however, and is a contributing factor to many other crimes committed. (Related: Major U.S. cities are becoming fentanyl-infested cesspools as millions plunge into hopelessness and despair.)
To combat the drug issue, Knudsen has been fighting with the Biden administration's disastrous border policies in federal court to compel it to enforce existing immigration laws and secure the border. He also called on the administration earlier this year to take a tougher stance toward China and Mexico against the influx of fentanyl.
Knudsen also increased the number of Montana Department of Justice narcotics and major case agents, and added a statewide drug intelligence officer who assists local law enforcement and public health agencies. Finally, he spearheaded a grant program that helped deploy drug-detecting K9s around the state.
Visit Opioids.news for more information about the dangers of opioids.
Watch the video below to hear the rest of Jim White's conversation with Attorney General Austin Knudsen. Catch "Critical Disclosure" every Monday at 7-8 p.m. on Brighteon.TV.
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Big Pharma payoffs to doctors cause an increase in opioid deaths… guns don’t kill people; DOCTORS do.
Doug Billings: America needs to secure its border – Brighteon.TV.
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