Officials gather in Greenville as NC Attorney General Josh Stein makes opioid fund announcement

GREENVILLE, N.C. (WITN) -The opioid epidemic is a drug crisis that Pitt County District Attorney Farris Dixon believes has certainly rocked the nation.

“Addiction doesn’t care about race or money,” Dixon said.

According to data, opioid deaths catapulted in 2022. Prominent figures like North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein aim to mitigate overdoses with funds from a multi-billion-dollar opioid settlement.

“There are going to be people healthy and well, enjoying their lives in the future,” Stein said.

Stein made a stop in Greenville Monday afternoon as state and local officials like Pitt County Sheriff Paula Dance listened to what he had to say.

She believes the $18 million in funds given to Pitt County will stop opioid-related crimes.

“What happens is people will leave the detention center without those services, then go right back into the community and do the same thing they did before,” Dance said.

Dixon hopes funds from the massive settlement will help start a Veterans corps because he says service men and women are too ashamed to face addiction.

“Often times those who have served either started using drugs when they were in the military or once they got,” Dixon said. “We’re going to try to utilize that to help them deal with issues they have.”

Stein believes funds from the multi-billion-dollar settlement will provide areas like Pitt County with the resources needed to end this sometimes-lethal epidemic.

Stein says funds from the settlement are expected to disperse before this year’s end.

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