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Erie County adding $19M to help combat opioid epidemic

The initial $19M will go to supplying Narcan to the community, funding the office of addiction services and supports, and a multiyear anti-opioid media campaign.

BUFFALO, N.Y. — Erie County is adding $19 million this year to its efforts fighting the opioid epidemic.

The funds come from a settlement among the county, the New York State attorney general's office, and drug manufacturers and distributors. The settlement will pay out $63 million between now and 2038.

The initial $19 million will go to supplying Narcan to the community, funding the office of addiction services and supports, and a multiyear anti-opioid media campaign.

"I truly hope that this will truly save lives," Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz said. "We're going to invest it back into the services that really work, and we're going to put it in programs and third-party providers that are dealing with this everyday.

"I want people to understand that this money that is coming from this very important settlement is not going to be wasted. It's not going out there to be spent on parts or roads or libraries, which are all very good programs."

Between 2012 and 2021, there were more than 2,000 opioid-related deaths in Erie County.

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