BEDFORD- The City of Bedford City Council had two requests for distribution of opiate funds at last night’s meeting at StoneGate Arts and Education Center. Frank Decker spoke on behalf of The Boys and Girls Club of Lawrence County and Heather Flynn represented The Men’s Warming Shelter. They were each seeking $50,000 to combat substance abuse in our community.
“Our youth substance abuse prevention program has three phases,” said Frank Decker, Chief Professional Officer for the Boys and Girls Club, “our staff training, programming, and our community awareness. These dollars would allow us to dive deeper into all of those.”
Men’s Warming Shelter Director Heather Flynn spoke of the importance of combating substance abuse to fight homelessness. Of the roughly 400 men the shelter has helped in the last 3.5 years “About 95-97% have an active addiction or have had suffered a major addiction in their lives,” she said, “It would be fruitless to try to get them a job or place to live without addressing the addiction first.”
The council unanimously approved the distribution of $50,000 each to the Boys and Girls Club of Lawrence County and The Men’s Warming Shelter.
Attorney General Todd Rokita reported in July 2021 that Indiana was due to receive $507 million in compensation through a $26 billion settlement involving multiple states seeking damages from pharmaceutical companies Purdue Pharma, creator of the highly addictive OxyContin, and the company’s owners, the Sackler family.
The litigation also seeks damages from major distributors Cardinal Health, McKesson, and AmerisourceBergen. These companies are each credited with the distribution of large quantities of opioid painkillers, which have been linked with addiction and overdose deaths. Johnson & Johnson is also implicated as a manufacturer and marketer.
The terms of the original litigation stipulated local communities, including Lawrence County, would receive only 15% of the $507 million settlement. The state was due to acquire another 15%, with the remaining 70 % balance heading to the Indiana Family Social Services Administration.
.png)
.JPG)
