ELKINS, W.Va. — Elkins Mayor Jerry Marco says the city plans to share part of West Virginia’s opioid settlement funding with nearby counties in an effort to help more people struggling with addiction.
“We’re thinking about doing a regional approach where we partner with four other counties and basically getting more bang for our buck,” Marco told MetroNews Wednesday.
The Mayor’s Task Force on Homelessness and Drug Addiction held a public forum Tuesday night at the Phil Gainer Community Center in Elkins to discuss the funding and the ongoing epidemic.
Last year, AmeriSource Bergen, McKesson and Cardinal Health, known as the ‘Big 3’, were ordered to pay dozens of West Virginia counties, cities and towns a total of $400 million in settlement money for their roles in fueling the drug crisis.
The state has previously settled with Walgreens, Walmart, CVS and Rite Aid for millions of additional dollars. Kroger could be next in line, according to state Attorney General Patrick Morrisey who has a news conference set for Thursday morning regarding opioid litigation.
County commissions and most cities in the state have signed on to the West Virginia First Plan, the memorandum of understanding, which will determine how opioid settlement money will be distributed statewide.
Marco said the city has not been notified how much funding they’ll receive or when it will be in their hands, but when they do find out, he wants to have a plan in place as to where the money will go.
“We want to get our partnership in place, have our plan in place and draft a white paper so that when that money becomes available, we can say ‘Here, we have a plan. This is what we want to do and this is what we want to accomplish’,” Marco said.
One area of concern is transportation and access to treatment facilities.
“Transportation, especially in a mountains area like this, where I don’t have a cab company in Elkins. I don’t have a bus in Elkins. I have an excursion train, which is amazing, but it doesn’t take people to treatment. It doesn’t take people to jobs,” Marco said.
Marco said some of the funding also needs to go to supporting young people. He said COVID-19 has intensified the drug problem in his city.
“When COVID hit and they shut the schools down, these kids were stuck in these toxic environments 24/7. The number of suicidal tendencies that we have right now from our youth, we at a state level really need to start addressing,” he said.
Marco said the Task Force on Homelessness and Drug Addiction has been working on the issue for the last two years.