County advocacy group to use opioid settlement funds for more prevention programs

Paul Welitzkin, The Petoskey News-Review
·2 min read

GAYLORD — Otsego and other counties in the state are about to share in the proceeds from settlement agreements with opioid manufacturers and distributors that will eventually bring in over $1 billion.

Most of that funding will ultimately go toward prevention, treatment and recovery programs to combat the toll from the opioid epidemic.

Michigan is receiving $776 million as its share of a $26 billion national settlement with pharmaceutical distributors AmerisourceBergen, McKesson Corp. and Cardinal Health and with manufacturer Janssen, whose parent company is Johnson & Johnson. The state will receive those funds over 18 years and 50 percent of the settlement amount will go to county and local governments.

Ellen Templeton is a community health coordinator with the Health Department of Northwest Michigan (HDNW) and is also the project coordinator for RISE: Otsego Substance Free Coalition. She said RISE is scheduled to receive $30,000 of the county's settlement money on Oct. 1.

RISE logo
RISE logo

"RISE is dedicated to substance abuse prevention. We focus mainly on alcohol, marijuana and tobacco/nicotine products. We have also allocated some of the money to target opioid use in the county," Templeton said.

RISE places a lot of emphasis on prevention because of its impressive cost-benefit ratio.

"For every dollar spent on prevention, we are saving $18 on other costs that come with substance abuse," Templeton said, referring to health, legal and other related expenses.

Ellen Templeton of RISE Otsego Substance Free Coalition
Ellen Templeton of RISE Otsego Substance Free Coalition

Recently, 12 area students were able to attend the 2023 Mid-Year Training Institute for the Community-Based,Advocacy-Focused, Data-Driven, Coalition-Building, Association (CADCA). While in Dallas for sixdays in July, the students participated in sessions that included substance-use prevention strategies,insights to help build their leadership skills, and training in how community coalitions work.

"We hope to use this funding for programs like this for students at the four high schools in the county — Gaylord, Johannesburg-Lewiston, St. Mary and Vanderbilt," Templeton said.

SAFE and RISE youth gather with Health Department of Northwest Michigan staff at the CADCA conference in Dallas, Texas recently. While there, the local students attended sessions on leadership and community coalitions.
SAFE and RISE youth gather with Health Department of Northwest Michigan staff at the CADCA conference in Dallas, Texas recently. While there, the local students attended sessions on leadership and community coalitions.

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She noted that RISE is youth led and adult guided.

"The young people are the ones impacting the other young people instead adults saying don't so this," said Templeton. "We have youth leaders in the community educating their peers on the risk of using certain substances before a mind is fully developed."

"The truth is most kids are not using but there is a misconception among teens that they all are using," added Templeton. "We have data that shows most are not using alcohol or marijuana. We have started a campaign to highlight that most kids are not using."

Templeton said even with substances that become legal at age 21, "there is a lot evidence that pushing back and delaying that first use reduces the rate of substance use disorder later in life," she said.

— Contact Paul Welitzkin at pwelitzkin@gaylordheraldtimes.com.

This article originally appeared on The Petoskey News-Review: County advocacy group to use opioid settlement funds for more prevention programs