1st Opioid Settlement Payment Received By Polk County Commission

BARTOW, FL — The Polk County Board of County Commissioners has received about $400,000 to fight opioid addiction in Polk County. The money is the first installment from settlements with major national drug distribution companies, and it will be used by Polk County’s Opioid Abatement Program.

Polk County Attorney Randy Mink estimates that Polk County will receive approximately $30 million in settlement money over the next 18 years. The settlements will result in billions of dollars being paid to communities nationwide to help abate the opioid epidemic.

“Polk County has been at the forefront of these settlements,” Mink said. “We have been working closely with the municipalities in Polk County — Auburndale, Bartow, Haines City, Lakeland, Lake Wales and Winter Haven — to obtain the maximum amount of money so that we can help as many residents as possible in our communities.”

According to the National Institutes of Health, opioids are a class of drugs that include the illegal drug heroin, synthetic opioids such as fentanyl, and pain relievers available legally by prescription, such as oxycodone, hydrocodone, codeine and morphine.

Law enforcement seized more than 11 pounds of fentanyl in Central Florida on Oct. 21. Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said that was enough fentanyl to kill 2.7 million people.

“Clearly, there’s a real need for help right here in our communities,” said Polk County Commissioner George Lindsey. “Polk County had a 39 percent jump in overdose deaths in 2020. We have an obligation to help people claim their lives back from opioids. Enough is enough.”

“The funding will be used to assist in supporting strategies that prevent and reduce issues surrounding substance abuse and behavioral health disorders.,” said Marcia Andresen, Polk County’s health and human services director.