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Michigan governments sharing in a $1.5 billion opioid crisis settlement must invest in housing, peer recovery staff and harm reduction programs like syringe exchanges, according to a new report.
Michigan is receiving $1.5 billion from an opioid settlement. Up North, experts worry that housing and worker shortages will make it hard to put the money to good use and help users.
Clinics that treat drug addiction say they’re confused about how to access money flowing into the state from a lawsuit settlement with opioid manufacturers and distributors.
The latest Lunch Break event featured expert panelists discussing the state’s drug crisis and how Michigan governments are spending the $1.5 billion in opioid settlement funds
In emotional testimony, the head of a group advising lawmakers on the drug crisis says state officials are thwarting its efforts. Transparency concerns follow complaints local governments aren’t moving fast enough.
On Feb. 28, Bridge reporters and experts will discuss the drug crisis and how Michigan governments are spending the $1.5 billion coming the state’s way.
New data confirms law enforcement suspicions about a surge in meth and cocaine. Michigan has spent millions to treat opioids, but treatments don’t work the same for meth.
The county moved with urgency to direct opioid settlement funds to help addicts. But subsequent disagreement highlights a tension between law enforcement and treatment that will likely be repeated statewide.
Advocates slam ‘abysmal’ transparency surrounding opiods settlement in Michigan. Unlike many other states, Michigan set up few controls over how cities, counties spend their 50% share of the money.
Local officials say there are ‘sharks in the water,’ as companies pitching everything from $7,400 vending machines to $200,000 body scanners seek contracts from the opioid settlement money coming to Michigan.
Michigan is receiving about $1.5 billion over 18 years, with about $725 million going to cities and counties. Some will receive a larger share of opioid settlement, based on how hard they’ve been hit by the crisis.
A landmark lawsuit settlement will pour $1.5 billion into Michigan, almost half of it directly to communities. But local governments have been slow to spend the money, and transparency questions dog efforts to fight the drug scourge.
The state spent $148,000 on a racial equity group to offer advice on how to spend hundreds of millions of dollars in opioid settlement funds. But after issuing recommendations, the group said it was ‘silenced.’
Even as the state posted at least some details on a new website Wednesday about where settlement money is going, the chair of the Michigan Opioid Advisory Commission told lawmakers that the panel has struggled to get more detailed information from state health officials.
Access to the drug should increase in coming days after thousands of kits are shipped. Michigan has allowed over-the-counter sales since 2017, but not all pharmacies carried the drug that reverses overdoses.
Overdoses are down slightly statewide, but they remain a huge health concern. That’s prompted a push to make the overdose-reversing drug more available in public places.
Fentanyl test strips can help prevent overdoses by alerting users to the presence of the synthetic opioid. The state should push for federal money to supply local health offices with test strips and help save lives.
