10/07/2026
Louder for the people in the back
Beginning in 2022, companies involved in the manufacture and distribution of prescription opioids agreed to pay $50 billion to all 50 states and the District of Columbia. In West Virginia, in 2024 and 2025, nearly half of the money allocated to local governments was being spent on general law-enforcement expenses. Along with high rates of disability and poverty, West Virginia has a higher rate of overdose deaths than any state in the country. Still, hundreds of thousands of dollars are going toward squad cars, shooting ranges, and more. Meanwhile, organizers and directors of programs to support people in recovery, or in active addiction, find it difficult to secure funding. “I just felt like the money had been so hard-fought to get that it should have gone for something opioid-related, not all law enforcement,” one activist told Oliver Whang. Read Whang’s report on how the money from the opioid settlement is being spent—in the state that received the most money per capita: https://www.newyorker.com/news/the-lede/how-the-billions-from-the-opioid-settlement-are-being-spent?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=dhfacebook&utm_content=app.dashsocial.com%2Fnewyorkermag%2Flibrary%2Fmedia%2F730484076
