Posted on 07/17/2026 3:17:59 PM PDT by nickcarraway
More than $107 million in opioid settlement money sent to local governments from 2023 to 2025 went unspent.
New Mexico State Auditor Joseph Maestas said his office’s report shows counties and cities had not used most of the money from lawsuits against drug companies, distributors and pharmacies over their alleged role in the opioid epidemic. The report analyzed spending from Fiscal Year 2023 through 2025. Fiscal year 2026 is currently underway.
“This is New Mexico’s opportunity to begin addressing it (opioid crisis) across the entire state and at this point we’re not doing the best job and we need to step it up,” said Maestas.
Maestas called the report a wake-up call and said the public health crisis continues to grow across the state.
“This money needs to be put to effective use in all these respective communities because this public health crisis is not going away, it’s getting worse,” said Maestas.
Counties most commonly told the auditor a lack of qualified service providers creates challenges in spending the money. Cities said they worry taxpayers would have to keep paying for programs they create after the settlement money runs out. The money is slated to continue flowing into the state through the late 2030s.
“Perhaps the state needs to step up and come up with a funding source, beyond the opioid allocation funds to assure, local governments like municipalities that… go ahead and get it started and the state of New Mexico will commit to continuing this funding, after it’s exhausting, the settlement funds” said Maestas.
The auditor’s office said local governments should develop concrete plans for using the money. The report found fewer than half of the 38 local governments surveyed had a formal written plan for spending settlement funds.
“I think an absence of planning in that structure can definitely contribute to questions about how the money should be spent, it could impede decision making, timely decision making, and ultimately will, you know affect how quickly allocations and distributions from the settlements can actually make their way into programming,” said David Stephens, director of the Government Accountability Office.
The report also found inconsistencies in how governments reported spending.
Maestas made recommendations for local governments including the development and review of spending plans, regional coordination where capacity is limited and more.
The state auditor also laid out legislative considerations, which include minimum public reporting requirements and options to strengthen state and local coordination. Maestas floated during an interview with KOB on Thursday that the state could also work to bolster providers infrastructure for local communities.
Last year, 900 people in New Mexico died from opioid use which marked a more than 20% increase from the year before.
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Throwing money at the problem isn’t the answer, is it?
Shook down the cigarette companies. Made John Edwards and Richard Blumenthal multi-hundred millionaires. So why not go after Purdue “for the good of the children”. And now the money sits in a bank and the addicts get no help. What a freaking con.
I’m not excusing the drug companies or tobacco companies but it was no secret their products have various liabilities. The government shakedown was a protection racket - pay the states and avoid class action suits. Help nobody who needs it.
“ More than $107 million in opioid settlement money sent to local governments from 2023 to 2025 went unspent.”
The Dims in New Mexico must be exceptionally incompetent. The Dims in Illinois, New York, New Jersey, Maryland, etc, would have figured out how to line their own pockets with that cash in just a few months.
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