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Fentanyl has changed Wyoming’s overdose picture sharply in recent years. State data shows deaths involving synthetic opioids like fentanyl more than quadrupled between 2018 and 2021, and around 95 percent of Wyoming’s overdose deaths are ruled unintentional. Unfortunately, geography defines detox access in Wyoming more than almost any other factor.
Research has documented that Wyoming has historically lacked its own certified opioid treatment programs offering methadone, meaning some residents face round trips of more than four hours to reach the nearest one in a neighboring state. Although this is a serious obstacle to care, this distance problem has not stopped the state from leading the nation in one specific harm reduction measure, naloxone dispensing. Wyoming has the highest naloxone dispensing rate in the country, more than four times the national rate.
Anyone researching detox should plan around long travel distances between rural communities and the state’s limited number of licensed residential centers, most of which maintain waitlists.
Wyoming’s Department of Health, Behavioral Health Division, certifies substance use disorder treatment programs and providers statewide. Of note, any program that wants to provide court-ordered assessments, receive state SUD funding, or bill as a Community Mental Health Center must hold this certification. The Wyoming Mental Health Professionals Licensing Board licenses the individual counselors who staff these programs separately.
