Following a nationwide settlement with pharmaceutical companies, the State of Hawaiʻi will receive $81.4 million dollars which will be distributed over the next 18 years. 85% of the settlement money will stay with the state while the remaining 15% will get allocated to the counties. This year, Hawaiʻi County will receive $489,000 followed by an additional $110,000 annually for 18 years.
Yesterday, during a press conference attended by Mayor Mitch Roth, Dr. Hannah Preston-Pita, BISAC, Tim Hanson, County of Hawaiʻi, Dr. Kevin Kunz, of the Hawaiʻi Island Fentanyl Task Force, and Dr. Charmaine Higa, from the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo, the county shared its plans on how they will utilize their potion of the settlement. Plans include the creation of the Big Island’s first detox and treatment facility. The Roth Administration and the Big Island Substance Abuse Council are considering a location across from the Hilo courthouse so individuals can stay on island for treatment as opposed to heading to O’ahu or the mainland which is common practice. The center’s estimated cost is $1.4 million and the county is asking the state to make up the difference and fund training and education programs to build the center’s workforce.
Other portions of funding will support the Hawaiʻi Island Fentanyl Task Force.which provides education and prevention efforts, including trainings, school presentations, community fairs and annual conferences. The task force also focuses on early intervention and increasing treatment services. According to federal data, one person dies of a drug overdose every 11 days on the Big Island, many of them teenagers, with fentanyl as the leading cause,
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