How should opioid shelters be used? Those who are beaten the most often do not have a voice

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People with substance abuse problems across the country don’t get an official say in how much of the estimated $50 billion in opioid settlement funds is being spent to curb the problem, a new analysis has found.

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Some advocates say that’s another reason some of the money goes to efforts they don’t consider proven ways to save lives from drug overdoses, including surveillance cameras, drug-sniffing police dogs and de-escalation programs. unnecessary prescription drugs.

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In Jackson County, West Virginia, officials voted earlier this year to use more than $500,000 in funds to pay for a first responder training center and shooting range. They are also donating $35,000 to an emergency response team that works with overdose survivors.

Josh George, who has been in recovery for three years after 23 years of drug use, primarily heroin, now has a recovery group with his wife and other family members.

Some of the money would go to the county’s only recovery center, he said.

“All these people were making their own money,” said George, “trying to help these people.”

Over the past eight years, drug manufacturers, retailers, pharmacy chains and other companies have agreed to settle thousands of lawsuits filed by state, local and American tribal governments alleging the companies’ practices contributed to the problem.

Opioids have been a major problem in the US since the late 1990s, with the number of deaths at the beginning of the decade reaching more than 80,000 per year. The main culprits have shifted from prescription pills to heroin to fentanyl and other lab-produced substances that are often added to other illegal drugs.

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Funds from the multi-billion dollar housing bill across the country began spending in 2022 and will continue until at least 2038. Agreements require more money to be used to combat the problem but provide more flexibility in how to do it.

Christine Minhee of the Opioid Settlement Tracker and Vital Strategies, a public health organization, planned to release a statewide guide on Monday that explains how federal funding decisions are made. The guide aims to help advocates know where to raise their voices.

Using that information and other information, Minhee, who has received just under $50 billion in settlements except for one made with OxyContin, Purdue Pharma, which the Supreme Court rejected, found that advisory groups help determine the use of a portion of it. But they have decision-making authority over one-fifth of it.

Less than $1 in $7 is overseen by boards that reserve at least one seat for a person who uses or has used drugs, although some areas where it is not required may have such members anyway.

Brandon Marshall, a professor of epidemiology at Brown University School of Public Health and a former member of the Rhode Island Opioid Settlement Advisory Committee, said he has seen that processes involving experts and people with experience using drugs have made quick assignments to harm reduction groups and other areas because they know the groups.

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“It is not just a way to ensure that funds are used correctly,” he said. “Those types of programs also ensure that funds flow quickly.”

Public health advocates say the money should be spent on ways proven to save lives, prevent drug use and focus on racial equity and that decisions should be transparent.

But many communities are following standard government spending methods rather than assessing local needs or consulting with experts or people affected by the epidemic.

Renville County, Minnesota, used $100,000 in settlement funds to cover about two-thirds of the cost of a body scanner so the county jail can detect drugs from incoming inmates, even if they swallow their wallets.

“You can’t tell me that whoever made those decisions thinks that’s the best way to spend the funding,” said Alicia House, executive director of the Steve Rummler Hope Network, which provides drug prevention and education throughout Minnesota.

Renville County Sheriff Scott Hable said in an interview that keeping drugs out of the jail – unless people are being searched – is consistent with the facility’s emphasis on treating inmates with substance abuse problems.

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The scanner has been used about 1,400 times since last year, identifying contraband in six cases. On two occasions, he found packets of drugs that the inmates had swallowed before entering, he said.

The regional governing body makes the decision to spend the money. Sara Benson, the county’s public health director, said the government is putting together an advisory group for future use and wants to include people with real-life experience.

In West Virginia, Jackson County Commission President Dick Waybright said the training center will help law enforcement, EMS and 911 workers respond to the opioid crisis.

“It couldn’t just be throwing money into a program that would never end,” he said in an interview. Besides, he said, no one other than the emergency response team asked for money in the first opioid payment.

George’s mother, Kelly DeWees, said there are many needs in the area hit hard by addiction, including transportation for people in recovery, self-defense education and counseling for children of those struggling with substance abuse. Breath of Life, the group her son and daughter-in-law run, could use help launching a recovery home.

The group is asking for the remaining $15,000 from the county fund and Waybright said he expects it to be granted soon.

For others, spending decisions are even more personal.

Tonia Ahern, community coordinator for the National Center for Advocacy and Recovery, lost her son to an overdose when she was 29. He co-founded a group that planned to produce a handbook of suggestions for New Jersey communities on how to use the grant.

“If you’ve never experienced it, you don’t know what they need,” Ahern said.

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