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Onondaga County will receive over $3.7 million in the first round of opioid settlement payments, according to a press release from the New York state attorney general’s office on Tuesday.

New York Attorney General Letitia James announced that the state will distribute $1.5 billion secured from the settlements with opioid manufacturers and distributors. The funding will be used for opioid treatment and addiction prevention efforts, according to the release.

We secured these funds after holding distributors and manufacturers of opioids accountable for fueling the opioid epidemic and devastating communities.

With opioid deaths reaching record highs, this will go a long way toward ending this crisis and preventing future devastation.

— NY AG James (@NewYorkStateAG) April 19, 2022

Central New York will receive $6.3 million in total from the settlements, including over $3.7 million for Onondaga County and a separate $263,422 specifically for the city of Syracuse, according to the release.

All 62 counties and the five largest cities in New York state — including the cities of Syracuse, Buffalo, Rochester and Albany — will receive the funding starting this week, the release said.

Jana Seal | Asst. Digital Editor

According to a 2020 report issued by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, there were 2,991 drug overdose deaths involving opioids in New York in 2018.

“The impacts of opioid abuse can be seen all over cities: in vacant houses, broken families, homeless shelters, and treatment centers,” said Syracuse Mayor Ben Walsh in the press release. “The city of Syracuse joined the legal fight against opioid manufacturers and distributors because they need to be held accountable.”

Central New York will receive up to $36.8 million in total as part of the settlements, the release said.

“These funds will go a long way in helping communities rebuild from the opioid epidemic,” James said in the release. “While no amount of money will ever make up for all those we have lost to this crisis, these funds are vital in helping us recover.”

Published on April 20, 2022 at 12:41 am

Contact Francis: btang05@syr.edu | @francis_towne