The City of Portland is set to begin considering ways to allocate nearly $750,000 in funds received from a 2022 settlement in a nationwide lawsuit against several opioid manufacturers and distributors.
In September 2017, the Portland City Council passed a resolution signing onto the lawsuit, citing the manufacturers’ and distributors’ alleged “fraudulent and negligent marketing and distribution of opioids” and the prevalence of opioid addiction among the city’s homeless population.
The settlement agreement, announced by Maine Attorney General Aaron Frey in January 2022, is estimated to bring in as much as $130 million to the state over an 18 year period.
“At a time when Mainers continue to suffer from the pain and loss inflicted by the opioid epidemic, this agreement and the settlement it secures represents a significant opportunity to confront the crisis head on,” said Attorney General Frey when announcing the settlement. “This agreement paves the way for Maine to receive significant resources, starting this year, to be specifically directed at tackling the opioid epidemic that is ravaging our state.”
The City of Portland has already received nearly $750,000 in settlement payments through March 1, 2023, but the City Council has not yet accepted or appropriated the funds for disbursement.
The city will also receive approximately $235,000 annually between fiscal year 2025 (FY25) and FY39, according to a memo from Portland City Manager Danielle West.
In her memo, sent Monday to the city’s Health and Human Services & Public Safety Committee, West reaffirms the intent of the city’s 2017 resolution to use the settlement funds to pay for “treatment and abatement efforts” related to the opioid epidemic, and outlines city staff’s recommendations for disbursement of the funds.
Priority in the disbursement of the settlement funds will be given to a series of “core abatement strategies,” including the expansion of training and distribution of naloxone (Narcan) to reverse overdoses, support for opioid addiction treatment and recovery services, youth prevention educational programs in schools, and expanding syringe exchange programs, among many other strategies outlined in West’s memo.
[RELATED: ‘Please carry Narcan, do not use alone’: Sanford PD Responds to Three Overdoses in 24 Hours…]
According to West, staff recommendations on disbursement of the already-received settlement funds — a total of $747,067.56 — are slated to be ready for the Health and Human Services & Public Safety Committee’s consideration in July 2024.
<span class="dsq-postid" data-dsqidentifier="27546 https://www.themainewire.com/?p=27546">3 Comments
Sad the doctors that prescribed these meds weren’t held liable.
Why don’t they try to address the underlying causes of this problem instead of applying a band-aid. Stuff like broken fatherless homes, teaching chastity, teaching Christian morality in schools and allowing God back in the schools, getting control of the border etc. Instead, HHS gets more money to pea away.
Ironically, the article above this one is that Pingree and Golden voted for the Ukraine and Israel aid package with nothing to secure our border. Meanwhile, Maine is flooded with Fentanyl and opioids. Thanks democrats!.