“Let’s don’t repeat tobacco,” Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall said, referring to spending of the settlements with Big Tobacco that went toward road repairs, bridge construction and budget gaps. “It never went to its public health purpose.”
This June 17, 2019, file photo shows 5-mg pills of Oxycodone. Cuyahoga County received $117 million in its 2019 settlement with drugmaker Johnson & Johnson. Alabama officials edged closer Wednesday to laying out a plan to spend hundreds of millions in opioid settlement funds – but barriers could prevent some money from going to programs proven to help users.
“Let’s don’t repeat tobacco,” Marshall said, referring to spending of the settlements with Big Tobacco that went toward road repairs, bridge construction and budget gaps. “It never went to its public health purpose.” Members of the council suggested prioritizing programs for pregnant women – including clinics that can provide both prenatal and substance use treatment. Suzanne Muir, associate director of the department of psychiatry and neurobiology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, said drugs and mental illness cause about half of the maternal deaths in the state.
Under state law, clean needles are considered drug paraphernalia. Bills to create pilot syringe exchange programs in Alabama have failed in the state legislature. State law also strictly limits the types of medical providers who can distribute naloxone, the drug that reverses opioid overdoses, and council members have said they hope that could be addressed in the upcoming legislative session.
Some of the settlements will be paid over nine years and others will come as one-time payments. So they cannot go toward ongoing expenses.
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