Local Towns, Counties Financially Crippled By Opioid Crisis Say $270M Oklahoma Settlement Is Woefully Inadequate
A White House Council of Economic Advisers report from 2017 put the cost of the opioid crisis between $290 billion to $622 billion in 2015 alone.
The Associated Press:
Local Jurisdictions Pay The Price For Nation's Opioid Crisis
As the nation's opioid crisis has devastated thousands of families, it also has taken a crippling financial toll on cities, small towns and counties around the country. Packed jails, increased ambulance runs and overworked coroners, sheriff's deputies and public defenders are just some of the consequences of the massive epidemic that has forced localities to divert millions of dollars to overdose-related emergencies and addiction treatments. (3/27)
In other news on the epidemic —
Cleveland Plain Dealer:
Deaths From Cocaine And Fentanyl Mixtures A Growing Concern In Northeast Ohio: What You Need To Know
Cocaine is becoming more prevalent in Cuyahoga County’s drug overdose deaths, and officials say that’s largely because drug dealers are mixing it with the powerful opioid fentanyl. Data from the Cuyahoga County medical examiner’s office shows cocaine was a factor in approximately 45 percent of drug overdose deaths last year, the highest percentage in more than a decade. (MacDonald, 3/27)
