Kentucky took a step Monday to turn a massive settlement into action to combat opioid addiction, as Attorney General Daniel Cameron announced members of a group overseeing the state’s share.
The Bluegrass State will receive $483 million from settlements finalized this year with drugmaker Johnson & Johnson and three major distributors. It was part of $26 billion in nationwide settlements.
Calling the opioid-addiction epidemic the “greatest public safety challenge of our lifetime,” Cameron announced the members of the Kentucky Opioid Abatement Advisory Commission.
Half of Kentucky’s settlement will flow directly to cities and counties for opioid-abuse abatement efforts, Cameron said. The commission will oversee the state’s half. The massive infusion, coming in installments over a number of years, means “we stand on the cusp of truly turning this epidemic around,” the attorney general said. Projects will include intervention, treatment and recovery services as the commission manages distribution of settlement funds, he said.
The commission is expected to meet soon as it sets a framework for distributing the funds.
“I encourage all those that are in this fight to give serious thought to how these dollars can be best utilized, what programs are needed, what group can we walk alongside and assist in the good work that they’re already doing and how can these funds break the cycle of addiction,” Cameron said at a news conference.
The Associated Press
