Delaware’s Lt. Governor & Attorney General join forces to combat the opioid crisis
Delaware’s Lt. Governor Bethany Hall-Long has joined forces with Attorney General Kathy Jennings to hold a series of statewide community forums in the hopes of finding innovative ways to spend millions of dollars in settlement funding to combat the opioid crisis across the First State.
The state’s newly established Prescription Opioid Settlement Fund Distribution Commission is working to abate and remediate the opioid epidemic through financial support from the opioid settlement fund. That includes efforts to treat, prevent, and reduce opioid use disorder and the misuse of opioids throughout the State of Delaware.
47 ABC’s Rob Petree got the chance to sit down with Lt. Governor Hall-Long for an in-depth interview and discussion on the current state of the opioid epidemic in Delaware, which just last year saw over 400 overdose deaths.
“The number has still continued to go high, and it is still too high,” Lt. Governor Hall-Long stressed. “We had around 455 Delawareans who lost their lives last year to Fentanyl and Heroin.”
That number also tragically includes substances such as cocaine and methamphetamine mixed with the dangerous opioid substance known as Fentanyl, representing a harsh reality that has revived the conversation once again about what to do to help save lives in Delaware.
“It’s ok not to be ok. During COVID, people were isolated and there were a lot of issues, and in Delaware – we continue with the twindemic of opioid and covid,” the Lt. Governor stated. “We’re predominately losing family members who are really in the prime of their lives, individuals who are predominately between the ages of 20 and 55, although we have it all ages.”
In an effort to save lives and raise awareness about an epidemic that took a back seat to the COVID-19 pandemic in many respects over the course of the past two years, the statewide community forums were launched earlier this month as part of ongoing efforts to address the crisis across the State of Delaware.
The first of three forums, one in each county, was held recently in Georgetown where people turned out both in-person and virtually to share their perspectives, experiences, and ideas on how best to help combat the crisis in the First State.
“We had our first hearing in Georgetown which was a great success,” Lt. Governor Hall-Long said. “We purposefully kept it in two formats where it’s a hybrid model – folks can call in, given covid if they didn’t feel comfortable coming into a public space, and we were able to hear in two minute segments from persons who lived through recovery themselves, those who tragically lost a loved one, a family member, a brother, a father, or a sister.”
Clients, families, advocates, clinicians, service providers and all other stakeholders, are encouraged to attend the forums as the conversations continue later this month with the final discussion set to be held starting at 7 p.m., July 25 at Delaware Technical Community College’s Terry Campus in Dover.
“These sessions are extremely important as we decide how best to utilize lifesaving opioid abatement funds. From the outset, our goal has been to ensure that these funds are managed through an independent process in which the public — and particularly the stakeholders who have been on the frontlines of the opioid epidemic — has a robust voice,” said Attorney General Kathy Jennings. “The individuals and communities directly affected by the addiction crisis have unique insight on the kinds of resources and strategies the State needs to bring to bear, and we’re all looking forward to hearing from them.”
The ultimate goal of these forums is to find ways of spending upwards of $20 million dollars the state is set to receive by the end of the summer as part of the Prescription Opioid Settlement Fund. Officials want to use that money to further the fight to save lives and help those who need help get help in the state of Delaware.
