Connecticut will receive at least $300,000 in funding through a national settlement with opioid manufacturers.
State Attorney General William Tong announced the settlement back in July with several companies, including Johnson & Johnson, Cardinal, McKesson and AmerisourceBergen. It calls for $26 billion to be paid out nationwide over 18 years.
Joe DeLong, executive director of Connecticut Conference of Municipalities, said the money will be used to assist communities struggling with opioid abuse.
“The spending of those funds will be determined whether it’s going to be a town-by-town basis, or more regional basis and the Legislature will have some say in all of this as well,” DeLong said.
DeLong added that a special committee was formed in October with Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin, who is conference president, and Waterbury Mayor Neil O’Leary. They worked to assure every local town government would have access to the funds.
“The opioid crisis has been one of our nation’s most urgent and pressing matters,” said O’Leary, who was selected by the conference to lead its opioid task force. “Nearly 50,000 people die from opioid overdoses every year in the United States. This problem did not occur overnight, and the recent settlement with opioid manufacturers and distributors has paved the way to fight back against this epidemic."
