How should $1B in opioid funds be spent? Local officials weigh in

NORTHAMPTON — As Massachusetts remains in the early stages of distributing more than $1 billion from opioid settlements over the next 15 years, local health officials from Hampshire County recently explained their wishes for how to use the funds during a listening session hosted by the state Department of Health.

Massachusetts has already dished out some of the money secured by the state Attorney General’s Office as a result of litigation against companies in the opioid industry, such as CVS, Walgreens and Teva. It’s expected that $400 million will be funneled to municipalities across the state, strictly to be used for combating the “drug epidemic.”

“There are 351 communities that have 351 boards of health in the state of Massachusetts,” Northampton Commissioner of Health & Humans Services Merridith O’Leary said at a DPH listening session last Friday in Northampton. “We have to tap into that and have the information flow because that’s where I think we can have change.”

The session asked for input from Hampshire County residents, municipal workers and public health providers, particularly in substance-use prevention, on how they would like to see the funds spent.

O’Leary said the demand for public health funding is increasing but funding opportunities are becoming more difficult to secure.

“It really wasn’t part of public health vernacular,” O’Leary said about harm reduction, looking back to when she started this work more than a decade ago. “It still isn’t quite where it should be at this point. So leveraging public health (is important) because we are trusted resources in the communities.”

Julia Newhall, the director of opioid abatements of the Bureau of Substance Addiction Services, a branch of the DPH, said that the legal settlements were won from, “Manufacturers, distributors, retail pharmacies and advertising firms for the role that they played in fueling the worst drug epidemic in U.S. history.”

“The goal of these events is to create awareness about the settlement funds, but more importantly, to gain community input on ways to invest these funds in the future to address the existing need,” said Newhall.

She told the Gazette that this is one of several listening sessions planned for each Massachusetts county, with the state planning to compile input into a report to inform the state’s spending of these funds.

All funds must be used to help mitigate the opioid epidemic, strictly for opioid abatement, which includes prevention, harm reduction, treatment and recovery services, and may not be used to supplant existing financial resources, according to the state. Hampshire County had 22 opioid-related deaths between January and December of 2024, a 27% decrease from the year prior, according to state data. There were 1,409 opioid-related deaths in the entire state in 2024.

The funds are divided with 60% being held in a fund managed by the state and 40% being divided between Massachusetts cities and towns, managed through a state subdivision agreement. Communities that that receive $35,000 or more annually must file an annual report documenting use of the funds.

Municipalities started receiving their share of funds in fiscal 2023 and will continue to each year over a 15-year period, with funds decreasing over time and ending in 2039. For example, Northampton will receive a total of nearly $1.8 million, getting $239,000 in 2023, will get $124,000 for 2026 and end with $51,000 in 2039.

The state recently released a settlement fund dashboard that shows the amount of money that every municipality is expected to receive.

Last year, municipalities reported having $107 million in available funds but only about $13.2 million had been spent, meaning 88% of the funds given has not been used. Newhall told the Gazette that Massachusetts is one of only 12 states that announced publicly that they would report the complete use of the funds.

Taylor McDonough, director of substance use prevention with the Northampton Department of Health & Human Services, said the funding the city has spent has gone to different harm reduction organizations such as Tapestry or Craig’s Doors.

McDonough said the funds are used for harm reduction efforts such as mobile outreach with Narcan and other opioid treatment methods. She said the city is exploring the creation of a microgrant program that would allow awards to go to different organizations.

Pedro Alvarez, director of harm reduction with Tapestry, told the Gazette that the organization has used settlement funds particularly through mobile outreach services and also to hire an additional coordinator in Hampshire County. He said Easthampton, Northampton and Amherst have collaborated to benefit from the funds.

“We’re able to come into those communities and meet people where they’re at and build these partnerships,” Alvarez said about how the funds have helped Tapestry. “Relationships and understanding of the work and really getting out there, connecting with folks — it’s huge.”

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