When Georgia launched a task force led by Attorney General Chris Carr to look into opioids and possible treatment for addiction, no one could have imagined how much some of their in-person work would be impacted by a global pandemic. This week, the task force met at Kennesaw State for the first time in almost two years as the state continues to try and get a handle on the opioid crisis that started out as an overprescription problem and has now transformed into a large black market.
As InsiderAdvantage reported recently, the crisis has continued to worsen, likely exacerbated by the isolation and other complications from the COVID pandemic. More than 100,000 people died of overdoses between April of last year and April of 2021, the first time deaths crossed into six figures in a 12-month period. Georgia deaths increased by 500 year over year from 1,530 in 2019-2020 to 2,086 in 2020-2021.
“It was great to hear from law enforcement and folks in the recovery community. I want to thank Theresa Johnson at Kennesaw State for allowing us to meet with some students who are in KSU’s nation-leading recovery program. It was great to focus on this issue fighting the opioid crisis around the state and we are going to continue to do it. We appreciate everyone coming together for the task force,” said Attorney General Carr.
Carr announced that he is still in negotiations with the country’s opioid distributors that have been sued by many states and municipalities for their role in the crisis. Georgia one of only six states yet to agree to a $26 billion settlement with Johnson & Johnson, an opioid manufacturer, and three of the country’s largest distributors – McKesson, Cardinal Health and Amerisource Bergen. Georgia could receive more than $600 million as its share of the settlement, nearly a quarter of which could make its way to local governments.
Carr was joined at the task force meeting by numerous representatives from state and local law enforcement, the state legislature and the recovery community.
“It’s a blessing to have so many people working together in unity to break the stigma surrounding addiction and supporting the Georgia Recovery Community,” said the Georgia Council on Substance Abuse, the state’s leading organization working to fight addiction and deliver assistance for those in recovery.
Jeff Breedlove, chief of communications and policy at the Georgia Council on Substance Abuse, said it was a “brilliant meeting” and was grateful for the work of Attorney General Carr in this area.
Meetings of the task force have continued online over the last few months but Carr was grateful to getting back to working in person together, pointing out the ability to share information and strategies in person across agencies and other involved groups can’t be matched by a Zoom. As the pandemic fades, the state and country return to a more normal level, treatment and assistance may be easier to find but the suppliers, many coming from Mexico, will continue pushing.
