The Opioid Settlement Board of Oregon will make a decision this week over the allocation of millions of dollars obtained from pharmaceutical companies to alleviate the state’s opioid problem. The board developed a well-rounded strategy last year that makes investments in harm reduction, primary prevention, and treatment.
However, Governor Tina Kotek has requested that the board reverse its direction and finance solely harm reduction, including Naloxone, rather than primary prevention and treatment. Kotek wants to reduce opioid settlement expenditure on drug treatment and prevention. She wants to use the funds as follows on December 19.
The state should provide all necessary funding for naloxone because it saves lives, reverses overdoses, and helps close the gap between dangerous use and treatment. However, it shouldn’t come at the price of primary prevention or therapy, which are tactics that truly help us get out of the problem.
The board acknowledges the need to implement a comprehensive continuum of care, from primary prevention through recovery, in order to treat addiction and dangerous drug use as a health issue.
In Oregon, primary prevention—which uses evidence-based strategies to prevent, minimize, and delay substance use in the first place—has suffered from years of underfunding. The majority of the hundreds of millions of dollars in cannabis tax income allotted by Measure 110 goes to treatment and harm reduction; primary prevention was conspicuously excluded.
We implore the board to continue in its current direction and reject a harm reduction-only strategy. In an effort to achieve a comprehensive and well-rounded health-focused approach, we also implore the governor, legislature, and M110 Oversight Council to prioritize primary prevention while simultaneously providing full funding for naloxone needs from their far larger resource pools.
Portland’s Jon Epstein
Holton, Dwight, Portland
Holton is the CEO of Lines for Life, and Epstein advocates for young people.
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