The Honorable County Mayor Coppinger,
As you may know, opioid-involved overdoses have killed more than half a million people over the past two decades. This public health crisis has worsened during the COVID-19 pandemic. Last year, I believe we lost 165 men and women from drug overdose in Hamilton County. Over 90 of the deaths involved fentanyl. When these deaths are added to our 60 suicides in 2020, we had 225 Deaths of Despair.
There is hope for a better future: the forthcoming state opioid settlements could help turn the tide. This could be a big opportunity to get more science-based treatment and prevention programs into our communities—and to save countless lives.
In many states, legislators and other elected officials are meeting about this issue now. You can help make sure these discussions start off strong.
Opioid manufacturers, distributors, and pharmacies will pay out nearly $26 billion in settlements for their role in the opioid crisis. We urgently need your support to oversee that this money will be used to fund youth prevention efforts, harm reduction programs, and communications campaigns that address stigma—and not for something else.
There is no shortage of cautionary tales. Only a small fraction of the Big Tobacco settlement was used for smoking prevention and cessation programs. Most of the money was used for public works projects like fixing potholes, not the anti-smoking public health initiatives it was intended for. We can’t let that happen again.
These funds could go a long way toward creating a world where individuals and families get the help they need—but only if we make sure the money is used the right way.
We have an important opportunity to get more science-based treatment and prevention programs into our communities—and save countless lives. Please fight for transparency in using settlement funds to sponsor evidence-based addiction treatment and invest in youth prevention.
Here are three ways you can help:
1. Funding - I urge you to help establish a dedicated fund for settlement dollars to ensure the money’s spent on evidence-based programs for addiction.
2. Accountability - I urge you to support:
a. Better oversight of the 68 in patient/outpatient treatment centers licensed by the Tennessee Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse. (More than 2 audits should be scheduled each year.)
b. A mandate that all treatment centers be required to use rapid Fentanyl tests and Fentanyl screening as Standards of Practice in drug testing.
3. Communications - I urge you to support the timely communication of real time data and statistics about patients deaths in our hospitals, treatment centers and the over 400 Oxford Sober Living Houses.
With gratitude for your continued support,
Brenda & Mike Purcell
Parents who lost their son to an accidental Fentanyl overdose in 2019 while he was a patient inside a 130 bed treatment center in Nashville. (This center is licensed by the Tennessee Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse)