North Dakota’s Court System Overloaded with Opiate Crimes

Myers says law enforcement cannot arrest their way out of the crisis

BISMARCK, ND — The opiate crisis in North Dakota is having a major impact on the court system.

U.S. Attorney Chris Myers says 37 people have been charged or sentenced with heroin or fentanyl related crimes in federal court in just the past two years.

He says they have prosecuted more fentanyl-related cases in federal court in the past two years, than in the previous 10 years combined.

The average sentence for drug trafficking is roughly 9 ½ years in prison.

Myers says law enforcement cannot arrest their way out of the crisis.