Michigan drug deaths drop, but lawmakers question disjointed opioid efforts

Lawmakers questioned the Michigan Opioids Task Force on why only 18% of counties’ settlement dollars had been spent
Additionally, lawmakers expressed concerns that county efforts to counter the opioid epidemic would overlap with state efforts
The task force vowed to engage with and educate counties and municipalities about how best to use their dollars

LANSING — Michigan lawmakers on Tuesday used a House committee hearing to urge more coordination between state and local communities fighting the opioid crisis.

Efforts to effectively use the hundreds of millions of opioid settlement dollars flowing into the coffers of the state and local communities have been disjointed, acknowledged Thomas Stallworth III, a senior advisor for the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services and the administration’s liaison to the Michigan Opioid Task Force.

“To a degree, that coordination doesn’t exist,” Stallworth said. But, while “there may be duplicative efforts, that’s something that we work hard to avoid.”

That lack of coordination hasn’t blunted a stunning decline in overdose deaths in recent years. Michigan is projected to see fewer than 1,800 opioid deaths in 2025, according to the state health department. In 2021, there were 3,096 overdose deaths in Michigan, the vast majority of them from opioids.

In a news release Tuesday, MDHHS Director Elizabeth Hertel said the decline “represents real progress and reflects the impact of sustained, data-driven investments of opioid settlement dollars across Michigan.”

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Opioid settlement funds — Michigan’s share of national settlements with drug manufacturers and distributors for their role in sparking the opioid crisis — are meant to help mitigate drug use and deaths. On average, a Michigander dies every six hours from an opioid overdose.

Payouts in Michigan will total $1.8 billion by 2040, and are directed both to individual communities and to the state. As of mid-December, Michigan counties, townships and cities had received $214 million.

Bridge Michigan previously reported that Michigan counties have only spent 18% of their settlement dollars.

Lawmakers in the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Medicaid and Behavioral Health raised concerns that state efforts to counter the opioid epidemic could overlap with county efforts.

“If a county already has a robust program, and then you’re coming over top of it — if there’s no coordination there, are those dollars then well spent?” asked state Rep. Greg VanWoerkom, R-Norton Shores.

Stallworth said the low spending and potential for overlap are results of poor communication between counties and the state.

“To a degree, people aren’t interested in doing this work with us,” he said. “There’s not a lot we can do about that, other than continue to invite them.”

The state has contracted the Michigan Association of Counties to host a series of meetings with local leaders to encourage coordination of efforts, both with the state and with nearby communities.

Those meetings will help counties and municipalities “understand what priorities the state has, and then try to help them align or identify opportunities to spend dollars that align with us,” Stallworth said.

“Not only are we just here, we’re actually reaching out to them,” said Stallworth. “There are regular meetings with county representatives — county and municipal representatives — to the degree they want to participate.”

Counties have final authority over how to spend their settlement dollars.

“We’re trying to provide them with the information and the support to get a plan in place, move forward,” Stallworth said.

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