A Compassionate Resolution

Victims of opioid epidemic get honorable goodbye from New Milford

When towns and cities receive funds, the first question is usually “How are we going to use this?” Sometimes the use is proscribed in the giving of the money – an animal lover bequeaths money to the animal shelter – and other times, money is sought for a specific project through grants. In the case of the Opioid Settlement, there were strict ways in which towns could and could not use the funds.

New Milford decided to use some of their funds in a novel, but bittersweet way to honor the victims of the opioid epidemic.

Twenty-five years since the onset of the first wave of the opioid epidemic, it is still hard to grasp the human costs. In the twenty years from 1999 to 2019, nearly 500,000 people died of an overdose according to the CDC that involved a prescription to opioids. Unfortunately, so many of these people were given prescriptions to these drugs by medical professionals, people that by any other measure are among the most trustworthy people in your life. Over time, people would get addicted to these pills, lowering their tolerance and seeking out more. As a secondary wave, more and more individuals started seeking out street heroin to make up for discrepancies in their tolerance and prescriptions.

Thankfully, something was finally done, but it was already too late for so many individuals. A multi-state effort led to settlements in the billions of dollars for participants to tackle this epidemic through education and programs. But it takes a lot of heart to do what New Milford has done.

The town, which receives money each year from the settlement, set up an Opioid Settlement Subcommittee to determine the best uses of the funds – one of which is to support families who have lost someone to the epidemic by helping with funeral costs. It’s a simple measure, but one that treats victims with dignity and respect, something that was lacking for so many years during the height of the crisis.

In a Danbury News Times article, a local individual who had gone through the death of their stepson said that families have often “exhausted all their financial means” trying to get their loved ones out of the grips of addiction, citing recovery and detox services. Funeral costs on top of that is a horrible burden, making the town’s decision to cover them all the more moving.

The committee is going to cover up to $4,000 per individual, according to the article, and it will be available to a deceased individual who is a New Milford resident with a history of substance use disorder. And while there are going to be many valuable ways to help individuals through this crisis, it is important that we not forget the many who have already fallen victim. In New Milford, through the kindness of the community, they won’t be.