The Principles for the Use of Funds from the Opioid Litigation
Nationally recognized guidance for opioid settlement funds, The Principles were developed by a coalition of organizations across the spectrum of the substance use field including physicians, addiction medicine specialists, recovery, treatment, and harm reduction.
168
People 15 years and younger died by overdose in 2022.100K
Overdose deaths in 2024.35-44
Largest age percentage of opioid deaths.
A New Opportunity
Substance misuse is an ongoing public health crisis in the United States; an estimated 20 million people have a substance use disorder related to alcohol or illicit drugs.
Recent attention has understandably focused on the role of opioids—which have killed more than 500,000 people over the past two decades. Opioid Litigation Funds are now available to states, cities, and counties across the country to support ongoing opioid-related work, including prevention, harm reduction, recovery, and treatment efforts.
Confronting the on-going opioid crisis, many localities have been working for decades and have already adopted numerous interventions that save lives. New financial resources that can help states and communities fund additional programs are available as a result of lawsuits brought by states, cities, and counties against opioid manufacturers, pharmaceutical distributors, and pharmacies. This is an unprecedented opportunity to invest in solutions to address the needs of people who use drugs, their families, and to address the impacts of this epidemic on communities across the country.
The principles
State and local governments are encouraged to adopt 5 Principles to inform the spending and allocation of opioid settlement funds.
Tools & resources
Assess your state or locality’s planning process and help with spending allocation decisions.
For specific guidance for state and local jurisdictions on how to spend their portion of the opioid litigation dollars, these supplemental documents can help assess and guide your opioid settlement planning and spending.