A new report shows Maine spent $3 million in opioid settlement funds last year.
The money comes from nationwide settlements with more than a dozen pharmaceutical companies that made or sold prescription opioids.
It’s intended to address harms caused by the opioid epidemic by supporting treatment, harm reduction, recovery, and prevention efforts.
The new data collected by the attorney general’s office and the University of Southern Maine shows more than $19 million in funds that have yet to be spent.
It shows that 29 local governments spent some funds last year, with just over 40 percent of the money going to police departments and jails.
The counties and municipalities spent the most on harm reduction and treatment efforts, while prevention programming received the least amount of funding.
The settlement money has been coming after years of lawsuits brought by dozens of states and hundreds of plaintiffs against companies such as Purdue Pharma, Johnson & Johnson, and CVS Pharmacy, contending the companies profited from misleading information about the addictive and deadly aspects of pharmaceutical opioids.
