Nevada Appeal Capitol Bureau
Saturday, April 23, 2022
Attorney General Aaron Ford on Tuesday announced the first distribution of the $284 million in opioid settlement money Nevada will receive.
With the AG’s office, Nevada counties and cities last year worked out an agreement on how to allocate those funds across the state. This year, he said Nevada will receive $71.1 million to distribute among five regions in Nevada.
In the first round of payouts, Clark County will receive $26.3 million.
Washoe County will get just over $3.7 million.
The Northern Nevada region consisting of Carson City, Douglas, Lyon, Storey and Churchill counties will receive just over $2 million from the settlement.
The rural region consisting of Humboldt, Pershing, Lander, Eureka, White Pine and Elko along with Ely and West Wendover will get $1.38 million.
The southern region consisting of Mineral, Esmeralda, Nye and Lincoln counties will get $852,880.
As part of the program, the state is creating a plan to identify critical needs for attacking the opioid epidemic statewide and maximizing the use of all funds available. The State Needs Assessment is expected to be released at the end of this month and will identify uses for the remaining money in this first allocation.
Ford said the money is being directed toward those programs most in need as opioid deaths continue to increase.
He said Nevada recorded a 55 percent increase in opioid deaths between 2019 and 2020. Accidental overdose deaths rose from 510 in 2019 to 788 in 2020.