Nevada commits more than $1M to fight opioid epidemic
CARSON CITY — The state’s Interim Finance Committee on Thursday approved more than $1 million in expenditures for a five-point opioid initiative to fight abuse of prescription painkillers in Nevada.
The initiative from Attorney General Adam Laxalt’s office was unanimously approved by the legislative panel. It includes money for everything from incinerators for disposing of drugs to education and treatment programs.
“On average, one Nevadan dies per day from drug overdose, and opioid-related overdoses have become the lead cause of death in America,” Laxalt said in a statement. He added that the initiative “creates an opportunity to face the epidemic that touches our families, friends and loved ones, and to promote prevention in Nevada.”
The initative includes the following:
— Buying and installing five incinerators to be put in law enforcement locations in Nevada to destroy prescription and illicit drugs that are seized by police or turned in by the public. Three of the incinerators will be in Southern Nevada, and two will be in Northern Nevada. The state will bid the project, which has $307,697 designated for it.
— About $500,000 for after-school prevention and education programs focusing on drug and opioid abuse.
— $250,000 for the Department of Health and Human Services to buy Naloxone/Narcan for first responders. The drug is used to reverse the impacts of opioid overdoses.
— About $675,000 for the Department of Health and Human Services to strengthen education and prevention programs.
— A full-time criminal investigator for the FBI’s new opioid task force.
The initiative is being paid for through a $5.3 million settlement with Volkswagen in 2016 over deceptive trade practices.
Laxalt in June announced an investigation with other attorneys general to determine whether drug manufacturers broke the law when marketing and selling opioids in a way that might have contributed to the epidemic.
Contact Ben Botkin at bbotkin@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2904. Follow @BenBotkin1 on Twitter.
About opioid abuse
It costs the U.S. $740 billion nationwide in crime, lost work productivity and healthcare annually.
In Nevada and the U.S., opioids, prescribed and illegal, are the leading cause of drug overdose fatalities.
Opioids were tied to 33,091 nationwide deaths in 2015, and opioid overdoses have quadrupled since 1999.
In 2016, Nevada was ranked as the sixth highest state for the number of milligrams of opioids distributed per adult.
Sources: Nevada Attorney General's office, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Drug Enforcement Agency.
