In 2024, 33 kids younger than 3 ingested opiates in Washington, according to a state ombudsman report that year. Most of that was fentanyl, said Spokane County Prosecutor Preston McCollam.
Spokane County commissioners unanimously voted on Tuesday to make "fentanyl endangerment" a misdemeanor in unincorporated parts of the county. Adults who expose kids to fentanyl intentionally or negligently, allowing the child to ingest the drug, could face up to three months in jail, a $1,000 fine or both.
In two months in 2025 in Spokane Valley, three toddlers overdosed on fentanyl from accidental exposure, according to the ordinance resolution: a 2-year-old who allegedly took fentanyl for candy, a 1-year-old who played with fentanyl foil belonging to their mother and a 2-year-old who played with a spoon used by their mother to ingest the drug.
"So many of these cases we're finding we have toddlers or infants who were in a bed or on a couch or in a home setting who got access to foil that was laced with fentanyl or the actual fentanyl product itself," McCollam said.
In the latter arrest, sheriff's deputies recommended charges of reckless endangerment with a controlled substance, according to Spokesman-Review reporting from the time, a felony punishable by up to 10 years behind bars, a $20,000 fine or both.
However, that charge only applies when a child ingests methamphetamines, McCollam told commissioners, based on a 2002 state law enacted before the "fentanyl epidemic." This represents a "hole" in state drug law that is partially patched in the county with Tuesday's ordinance, McCollam said.
"We presently don't have a really good mechanism to be able to get at that, and so we have a number of cases, that are tragic cases across our region, that involve children and include fatalities," McCollam said.
The law applies to only unincorporated Spokane County; areas within city limits have their own governance.
At the state level, the same crime for exposing a child to methamphetamines, rather than fentanyl, is a felony. A misdemeanor is the highest level of crime the county can enact, McCollam said.
There's no state-level crime specifically for exposing a child to fentanyl. Lawmakers have tried since 2019, but haven't codified anything. The most applicable charge is generalized reckless endangerment, a gross misdemeanor punishable by up to a year imprisoned, $5,000 or both.
"It's not unique to this type of drug crime or this exposure, and so it is an imperfect tool for law enforcement," McCollam told commissioners.
Republican Commissioners Al French and Josh Kerns implored state lawmakers to add fentanyl exposure to the existing law against a child ingesting methamphetamines, giving more "teeth" to the measure. McCollam said in talking with lawmakers, he thinks they could do it in this session.
"The idea here is not to put more people in jail," McCollam said. "The idea here is to protect children and protect the most vulnerable."
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