The Opioid Crisis and the Democratic Solution
Too many of our friends and family have been harmed by the opioid epidemic in North Carolina. For many, it starts innocently enough with a prescription for pain. And then, they find themselves in the downward cycle of substance abuse.
In 2020, 3,304 Carolinians died from an overdose -- that's more than 9 deaths every day, and 40% more than died in 2019. What's more, there was a 22% increase from 2020 to 2021, largely due to the stresses of the COVID pandemic and the prevalence of contaminated street drugs like heroin and fentanyl.
But we are on our way to recovery.
Governor Cooper and Attorney General Josh Stein are creating the conditions for us to respond forcefully to the Opioid Pandemic. Stein has led the fight among state attorneys general to hold drug companies accountable for the damage their reckless policies have inflicted on the people of North Carolina.
Our state will receive $750 Million as part of a national settlement to fight the opioid crisis. The funds will be equitably distributed among the 100 NC counties, based on the number of individuals suffering from opioid addiction in each county.
The state and the counties will act to prevent opioid misuse and to help addicts recover based on a comprehensive action plan adopted in 2019.
Here's some key elements of what the plan put in place:
Nearly 1200 prescribers and 4,000 providers have been trained on issues related to the opioid epidemic, including safe prescribing of opioids.
57 counties and one federally recognized tribe are operating 40 registered Syringe Service Programs.
Over 300 community and local government partners have been trained to create or expand syringe service programs and advance harm reduction.
Over 21,000 people without insurance received treatment.
31 local organizations have been funded to implement community-based linkage-to-care strategies
19 programs have been funded to connect justice-involved individuals to care.
4 jail-based medication assisted treatment programs have been funded across the state, and
250,000 doses of naloxone have been distributed to prevent death from overdose.
Since the 2020 launch of the plan these actions have produced the following results:
36% fewer individuals have received opioids from their doctors
and 48% more individuals have received treatment, including 21,000 people with no insurance.
Making sure all North Carolinians have access to quality health care is a goal we all share. We can achieve this goal by:
enhancing our public health system to assure that we can meet the next pandemic;
expanding Medicaid to enable more adults without access to health care to be able to get the preventive and early treatment they need to reduce health care crises;
fully implementing the Governor's opioid comprehensive plan; and
addressing the social determinants of health by assuring that all of us have safe housing, enough food, and access to good jobs that enable us to support our families.