Opioid Settlement Funds: Supporting Communities & Ending the Overdose Crisis
JUST RELEASED!
3rd Annual - National Roadmap for Opioid Settlement Funds - 2026
Explore the 2026 National Roadmap for Opioid Settlement Funds with 237 organizational sign-ons! This third annual edition of "A National Roadmap for Opioid Settlement Funds: Supporting Communities & Ending the Overdose Crisis" provides crucial guidance for elected officials, government agencies, and other entities and individuals tasked with the allocation of funds won in settlements with opioid manufacturers and distributors.
“Through lengthy litigation and the strength of devastated families and communities, these funds belong to those directly impacted by the catastrophic opioid epidemic, not the government! All funding should be spent with a public health approach and not on the stigmatizing, punitive and demoralizing War on Drugs approach.”
ACTION ALERT!
REVERSE THE RAID: Fix $45 Million Diversion of Opioid Settlement Funds in New Jersey
See how opioid settlement funds are being spent in your state.
The NJ Roadmap for Opioid Settlement Funds
Community Input
Take a minute to to comment on how your town or county is doing with it’s allocation of opioid settlement funds? What are you seeing? Is it helpful, hurtful or somewhere in between?
Additional Resources
NJ Spotlight News
Senior lawmaker looks to undo controversial budget diversion of opioid funds
State Sen. Joe Vitale wants $45M restored ‘for its original intention’
Lilo H. Stainton, Health Care Writer | August 13, 2025 | Budget, Health Care
NJ Spotlight News
Budget diversion of opioid settlement funds outrages advocates
Protesters stage ‘die-in’ over $45M appropriation for four hospitals
Bobby Brier, Mental Health Writer | July 1, 2025 | Health Care, Budget
August 21, 2024 - NPR'action alert! Click here to sign on to our letter to save NJ Opioid Settlement Funds!s Ailsa Chang talks with Aneri Pattani of KFF Health News about guidelines for spending opioid settlement money issued by nearly 200 harm reduction and recovery organizations.
NJ Spotlight News
Where experts say NJ should spend opioid settlement funds
Advisory council recommends more supportive housing, harm reduction programs and training for treatment providers
Lilo H. Stainton | June 17, 2025
NJ Spotlight News
How should NJ spend its share of national opioid settlement funds?
Advocacy group underlines priorities, wants more focus on support than on law enforcement
Lilo H. Stainton, Health Care Writer | June 3, 2025
NPR:
Opioid settlement money and a call to action
August 21, 2024 - NPR'action alert! Click here to sign on to our letter to save NJ Opioid Settlement Funds!s Ailsa Chang talks with Aneri Pattani of KFF Health News about guidelines for spending opioid settlement money issued by nearly 200 harm reduction and recovery organizations.
Legal Action Center:
Opioid Settlement Tracker
Legal Action Center (LAC) and Christine Minhee, J.D. of Opioid Settlement Tracker (OST) have joined together to create a living resource that community-based organizations in all states across the country can access to easily determine what opportunities exist to utilize opioid settlement funds for addiction treatment, overdose prevention, harm reduction, and other related services.
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health: Principles for the Use of Funds From the Opioid Litigation
Developed by a coalition of organizations across the spectrum of the substance use field including physicians, addiction medicine specialists, recovery, treatment, and harm reduction. The Principles for the Use of Funds From the Opioid Litigation provide planning and process level guidance for state and local policymakers on how to effectively spend money from the opioid settlements.
KFF Health News:
Payback Tracking the Opioid Settlement Cash
Opioid manufacturers, distributors, and retailers are paying tens of billions of dollars in restitution to settle lawsuits about their role in the overdose epidemic, with little oversight on how the money is spent. We’re tracking how state and local governments use — or misuse — the cash.
Opioid Settlements:
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO)
John Oliver discusses how opioid settlements are being spent in the US, why there’s still time to make sure they’re spent in better ways, and the Taylor Swift metric for seriousness.