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Healing in Haywood
The opioid epidemic has spared no corner of the United States. U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention photo
Smoky Mountain News
July 21-27, 2021
Opioid settlement could result in drug treatment facility
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BY CORY VAILLANCOURT POLITICS E DITOR illions in opioid settlement money is coming to the state, to most counties and even to some municipalities. Now, elected officials like Rep. Mark Pless, R-Haywood, are looking for ways to use the windfall to undo some of the damage wrought by the deceptive marketing practices of pharmaceutical companies that fueled the nation’s opioid epidemic by burying risks associated with the powerful painkillers.
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n May 2018, North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein filed a lawsuit against Purdue Pharma, alleging “deceptive and misleading statements” meant to downplay the concerns of patients and prescribers of opioid analgesics, like OxyContin. Almost three years later, a settlement has been reached that will result in preliminary payments of more than $4.5 billion across the nation. Last week, Stein told Capitol Tonight’s Tim Boyum that North Carolina could expect $100 million over the next decade, not including future settlements with other pharmaceutical supply chain participants that would push the nationwide total to $26 billion. An agreement between the state and the North Carolina Association of County Commissioners lays out not only how the
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money must be spent — there are many options, however all relate to remediation of the epidemic — but also what proportion of the settlement each of the local governments that signed onto the lawsuit will receive. The state will take 15 percent off the top, and 5 percent has been earmarked for a special incentive fund, leaving 80 percent of the settlement for distribution to counties and cities. Every Western North Carolina county is in line for some of that money; Buncombe will receive the most in the region, Mark Pless around 2.5 percent, while smaller counties like Haywood will see less than 1 percent. Only 17 municipalities signed onto the lawsuit, so they’ll all receive additional allotments. Asheville will claim another quarter-percent. The Haywood County town of Canton — the only municipality west of Asheville eligible for the additional funds — can expect another one-onehundreth of a percent. Rep. Pless, who like many of his fellow WNC legislators ran on bringing a treatment center to the area, has his sights set on the state’s pool of money. He said he’s asking for $4 million to fund a treatment center with detox capabilities in Haywood County. “I had looked all over the state for something like this, specifically looking for something that did provide detox,” Pless said.
What he eventually found was closer than he knew — just a few miles from the General Assembly, in Raleigh. ounded in 2001, Healing Transitions claims its unique, peer-based recovery services for people with substance abuse disorder “rekindle a person’s desire and ability to return to a meaningful, productive life.” The model is a replication of the Healing Place in Louisville. Healing Transitions is always open, presents no financial barriers and serves everyone — including people experiencing homelessness, the uninsured and the underserved — as many times as it takes to get them on the road to recovery. “I think there are some distinguishing features about our model,” said Chris Budnick, executive director of Healing Transitions. “One is our ability to serve a range of people, like people under the influence. We don’t say, ‘You gotta sober up before you get help.’ We call it ‘services on demand.’ That’s helpful for first responders looking for options other than jail.” There’s a men’s campus and a women’s campus that provide emergency shelter and non-medical detox services as entry points to the long-term recovery program. The only caveat is that entrants must be 18 years of age or older and a resident of Wake County, although proof of residency is less important than proof of a tie to the community. Long-term recovery begins with motivation; entrants to the program attend classes and meetings in exchange for a bed and a place to keep their things. After motivation comes commitment,
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