In the first five months of 2024, there were 13 “fentanyl-positive” deaths in Vance County.

That number represents a 225 percent increase from 2023, when there were four deaths associated with the illicit drug that is wreaking havoc and causing overdose deaths.

The majority of victims are black males, non-Hispanic, in two different age groups – 25-34 and 45-54, according to information shared by Vance County Manager C. Renee Perry during the Sept. 14 annual meeting of the county’s opioid task force.

So far, Vance County has received $1,861,404.66 as part of the multi-year, multi-billion-dollar national opioid settlement. The payouts will take place over an 18-year period, during which Vance County stands to get $6.2 million from the state’s total $1.3 billion.

To date, however, Vance County has yet to allocate a penny of those funds.

“There are no plans in place just yet for the funds,” Perry said in comments during her presentation at the meeting, which lasted less than half an hour.

Perry told commissioners present at the meeting that the local opioid committee has met once and has plans to meet again before the end of the calendar year to render a plan. Commissioners Sean Alston, Yolanda Feimster and Carolyn Faines make up the committee right now, and Perry said others from the community will join.

Recipients of the settlement money have a couple of options from which to choose as they plan how to allocate the funds, and Vance County has chosen the option that calls for supporting “high impact opioid abatement strategies” that include a variety of programs and services, such as the following:

• evidence-based addiction treatment
• recovery support services
• recovery housing
• employment-related services
• early intervention programs
• naloxone distribution
• post-overdose response teams
• syringe service programs
• criminal justice diversion programs
• addiction treatment for incarcerated persons
• re-entry programs

Commissioner Archie Taylor said he would like to see additional diversity on the committee – different age groups, ethnic groups, as well as individuals in recovery.

Board Chair Dan Brummitt said the committee was created under the watch of former Chair Feimster and “I don’t have any intention” to change what the former chair had put in place.

Taylor countered a few minutes later by saying that perhaps the matter should be made an agenda item for an upcoming board of commissioners meeting.

Perry said she had recommended to the three-member committee that they may consider as committee members representatives from the sheriff’s office, EMS and others who interact with the affected population on a daily basis.

Brummitt said the committee wants to involve community organizations and those with lived experiences in the decision-making process.

Perry said she would inquire about how surrounding counties are choosing to spend their settlement money and report back to the board.

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