Opioid Abatement Funds

Starting in July of 2021, former Attorney General, Maura Healey, announced settlements with corporations that contributed to the overdose epidemic by flooding Massachusetts with dangerous opioids. The included distributers, manufacturers, and pharmacies engaged in misconduct that enabled and perpetuated vast increases in opioid over-dispensing and diversion (e.g., unfair and deceptive sales tactics, failed to monitor suspicious orders, avoided responsibility).

These resolutions are expected to bring more than $921 million into Massachusetts for harm reduction, treatment, recovery, and prevention. Under the terms of the approved State Subdivision Agreement, 60% of the abatement funds coming into Massachusetts will be allocated to the state’s Opioid Recovery and Remediation Fund to fund additional harm reduction, treatment, recovery, and prevention programs throughout the Commonwealth and 40% of abatement funds will be allocated to municipalities to expend on abatement strategies.

Learn more about opioid remediation and the settlements from the State website.

Abatement Strategies

The municipal funds can only support the 7 abatement strategies specified by the State of Massachusetts. These include:

  1. Opioid Use Disorder Treatment - Support and promote treatment of persons with Opioid Use Disorder (OUD)
  2. Support People in Treatment and Recovery
  3. Connections to Care for people who have, or are at risk of developing, OUD
  4. Harm Reduction - Support efforts to prevent overdose deaths or other opioid-related harms
  5. Address the Needs of Criminal-Justice-Involved Persons - Support diversion and deflection programs and strategies for criminal-justice-involved persons with OUD
  6. Support Pregnant or Parenting Women and Their Families, Including Babies with Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome
  7. Prevent Misuse of Opioids and Implement Prevention Education

For an expanded explanation of each strategy, see abatement strategies.

Reporting Requirements

Since August 2023, municipalities that received $35,000.00 or more a year are required to submit an annual expenditure report. All participating municipalities are asked to submit an annual report on their planning process, strategies selected, and expenditures.

For more information on expenditure reports for Middleton and other Massachusetts municipalities, view the data dashboard by using the link: Municipal Opioid Abatement Funds Data Dashboard.

Opioid Settlement Roundtable Discussions

In order to determine how the funds are spent, municipalities must involve community members in the process, focusing on people with lived and living experience. This includes people who are actively using drugs, people in recovery, people in treatment, people who have lost a loved one to an opioid-related overdose, and family members/friends of people who are/have used substances.

The Town of Middleton is committed to seeking input from residents and organizations around the use of Opioid Abatement Funding who have been most affected by the opioid epidemic. Responses will inform how opioid remediation funding is spent.

For more information about the Opioid Settlement Roundtable Discussions, please see HERE.