For Immediate Release:
Monday, August 15, 2022
Contact: Nazneen Ahmed
919-716-0060
(RALEIGH) The North Carolina Association of County Commissioners (NCACC) on Saturday honored Attorney General Josh Stein with the organization’s Distinguished Service Award for his work to fight the opioid crisis and bring hundreds of millions of dollars to local governments across North Carolina. The NCACC’s Distinguished Service Award is given to someone who is not a county official but has “rendered a truly outstanding and distinctive service to the cause of improving local government above and beyond his usual duties or occupation.” In addition to Attorney General Stein, the NCACC also honored First Assistant Attorney General Swain Wood, Consumer Protection Division Director and Special Deputy Attorney General Kevin Anderson, Senior Policy Counsel Steve Mange, Deputy General Counsel Daniel Mosteller, and former Deputy General Counsel Blake Thomas.
“The progress we’ve made in our fight against the opioid crisis is a result of a lot of smart, hardworking, and caring people working together towards the same end,” said Attorney General Josh Stein. “I’m grateful for the partnership between the NCDOJ and North Carolina Association of County Commissioners; it was essential in securing the $26 billion national settlement, including North Carolina’s share of $750 million. Now we all want to make sure that these funds are effectively spent to help people with addiction all across our state stay alive and then become healthy.”
“Attorney General Stein and members of his senior legal team were instrumental in negotiating the national opioid settlement and together with county leaders, crafted a Memorandum of Agreement that directs funding to all 100 counties,” said Kevin Leonard, Executive Director of the North Carolina Association of County Commissioners. “We are pleased to recognize them with the NCACC’s Distinguished Service Award in light of all they have done in partnership with counties to combat the ongoing opioid crisis.”
Nearly all of North Carolina’s local governments have received their first payments from the $26 billion national opioid agreement with the nation’s three major drug distributors (Cardinal, McKesson, and AmerisourceBergen) and Johnson & Johnson. Eighty-five percent of these funds will go directly to North Carolina’s local communities to support treatment, recovery, harm reduction, and other strategies to address the opioid epidemic. The balance will go to the state for the same purposes. Attorney General Stein also recently announced agreements in principle with drug manufacturers Allergan and Teva, which would bring another $6.6 billion funds nationally to fight the opioid crisis.
More information on the payment schedule for local governments is available through the Community Opioid Resources Engine for North Carolina (CORE-NC). CORE-NC includes statistics on the opioid crisis in North Carolina and will serve as an information clearinghouse for reports on the use and impact of opioid settlement funds for the duration of the 18-year settlement. The state and local governments are required to report all investments publicly so that all North Carolinians can review them.
###