Tong in Ridgefield shares state’s wins in opioid epidemic, vaping
RIDGEFIELD — As he addressed local leaders and community substance abuse prevention advocates, state Attorney General William Tong said that in the opioid addiction crisis, “not everybody’s going to make it.”
“They’re good now. They may not be good tomorrow. That’s what’s so hard about this crisis. It’s not just about getting people in recovery and curing them. That doesn’t happen,” Tong told a crowd of more than 60 people Wednesday
morning at the Ridgefield Town Hall Annex.
“It’s about walking this walk and this fight with them for the rest of their lives,” Tong said.
He was joined by leaders and representatives from state and local groups to give an update on the state’s efforts to address the opioid epidemic and youth vaping crisis.
Over the past four years, Tong said, the U.S. government helped secure more than $50 billion for the treatment and prevention of opioid addiction — $600 million of which is going to Connecticut.
Additionally, he said the state will get about $16 million through a settlement with JUUL, an electronic cigarette company.
That is the state’s share of a settlement to resolve an investigation into the company’s marketing and sales practices. The funds can be used for cessation, prevention and mitigation efforts.
“There’s real money here now and it has to be used,” Tong said, adding, however, there’s still more to accomplish in fighting addiction.
He vowed as attorney general that “we will be fighting this crisis.”
Opioid addiction crisis
The opioid addiction crisis is the worst public health crisis in America, Tong said.
“It will take 1,400 people this year from our state, it will cost $10 billion in economic damage. That number is only going up,” he said.
Overcoming the crisis is about more than getting people into recovery — it’s about keeping them in recovery and getting them back into recovery, if necessary, Tong said.
“So many of us, not just in our day jobs but in our
professional lives … have lost somebody close to us … or we know somebody who is struggling and we could lose them at any minute,” he said.
Connecticut will see more than $26 million of the $600 million of the settlement this year, he said, which will go into the Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services’ CT Opioid Settlement Advisory Committee.
The committee includes state officials, public health officials, legislative appointees and municipal officials, including Ridgefield First Selectman Rudy Marconi.
There’s “no massive state infrastructure for treatment, prevention and addiction science,” Tong said. “At the end of the day, the best way to administer the money is for all the officials to get together… and figure out which programs are most effective.”
The list of programs can be found on the state OSAC site for Region 5.
JUUL settlement
Last year, Connecticut led 34 states and territories in negotiating a $438.5 million settlement with JUUL, an electronic cigarette company.
“We went after JUUL hard. We’ve pushed JUUL, essentially, to the brink of insolvency,” Tong said. “They’ve agreed now to a laundry list of things that they won’t do. … We’re enjoining them from marketing to kids, from using influencers, from using social media, from using flavors.”
Two days ago, the legislature
approved Bill 6914,.which covers how Connecticut can use the funds from the settlements to fight addiction to opioids as well as vaping statewide.
“That $16 million will be spread out and go out to all of the regions and be administered directly on prevention and treatment programs. So (that is) really exciting,” he said.
Tong plans to meet with each of the state’s five regional behavioral health action organizations over the next month to discuss how community-based organizations can access and guide those funds to address the opioid epidemic and youth vaping, according to Tong’s office.
These regional health organizations are funded primarily through federal dollars administered by the Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services. They provide a range of planning, education and advocacy initiatives related to mental health and substance use prevention, treatment and recovery, according to Tong’s office.
Region 5, the Western Connecticut Coalition serves Barkhamsted, Beacon Falls, Bethel, Bethlehem, Bridgewater, Brookfield, Canaan, Cheshire, Colebrook, Cornwall, Danbury, Goshen, Hartland, Harwinton, Kent, Litchfield, Middlebury, Morris, Naugatuck, New Fairfield, New Hartford, New Milford, Newtown, Norfolk, North Canaan, Oxford, Prospect, Redding, Ridgefield, Roxbury, Salisbury, Sharon, Sherman, Southbury, Thomaston, Torrington, Warren, Washington, Waterbury, Watertown, Winchester, Winsted, Wolcott and Woodbury.