State Attorney General Josh Stein visits Robeson County

LUMBERTON — State Attorney General Josh Stein engaged in discussions Friday with several Robeson County officials about the national opioid settlement and what Robeson County is doing in the fight against opioid addiction.

“We are at the deadliest moment of the deadliest drug epidemic in American history,” Stein said.

In 2020, a 40% increase in overdose deaths was seen when compared to the year before, the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services previously announced.

“In North Carolina, the number of drug overdose deaths — from illicit substances and/or medications — increased by nearly 1,000 deaths, from 2,352 in 2019 to 3,304 in 2020,” according to NCDHHS.

In 2020, there were 70 lives lost to overdoses in Robeson County, Stein said.

“What we’ve seen here today is that this scourge, this disease, it doesn’t affect one person, it affects the family and it affects the entire community,” Stein said.

Stein said the crisis began because of greed in which drug companies made “billions and billions and billions of dollars while billions of Americans got hooked on opioids.”

Stein said he led a bipartisan coalition to hold companies accountable in the national opioid settlement. So far, $26 billion has been won in the settlement.

Funds should be distributed sometime this summer, with the state’s share at $750 million, Stein said.

Robeson County is slated to receive an estimated $8,756,919 share of the money in allocations over an 18-year period, according to ncopioidsettlement.org.

Preliminary discussions at the county level include using “a significant amount” of the funding for treatment, but also placing “a focus on prevention,” Robeson County Attorney Rob Davis previously told The Robesonian.

But, the coalition isn’t done fighting for accountability, Stein said.

In March, a $6 billion settlement was approved by U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Robert Drain in the bankruptcy case of Purdue Pharma.

However, other steps such as the full bankruptcy court’s approve of the settlement must take place before it is finalized, according to a report by Reuters. The proceedings were ongoing as of Friday afternoon.

However, if the settlement is approved, North Carolina stands to gain about $100 million, Stein said.

Hammonds’ story

Shelia Hammonds shared words about her battle with addiction Friday.

“It’s always an ongoing process of course, but we can and we do recover,” she told The Robesonian.

Hammonds said she began using cocaine at the age of 19, which began a 14-year-long addiction to drugs.

She then went to Robeson Health Care Corporation’s Grace Court, a residential facility in Lumberton that aids people with substance use disorders.

“Grace Court provides Enhanced Substance Abuse Comprehensive Outpatient Treatment (SACOT) and Substance Abuse Intensive Outpatient (SAIOP) as well as outpatient mental health and substance abuse services in conjunction with other case managed support services …,” according to RHCC’s website.

Hammonds also participated in Family Treatment Court for a year before graduating from both programs in 2012.

She said it is “awesome” and “truly a blessing” for people to get help from such programs, which will soon include the future Parkton rehabilitation and recovery center.

Hope Alive

Hope Alive is a nonprofit organization of Greater Hope International Church in Lumberton. The organization was allocated $10 million in funding from the state budget to launch an 82-bed drug treatment and rehab center near Parkton.

Hope Alive will partner with Robeson Health Care Corporation in the effort to provide services.

“It has to be a collaborative effort it cannot be done by one person,” said Ron Barnes, pastor of GHIC.

“I do not believe that you have to walk under the burden of addiction all of your life I believe that chain can be broken and you can live a productive life. I do believe that you don’t have to pull your past behind you, you can change and God can use you,” Barnes said.

Hope Alive will also work with the Robeson Rural Communities Opioid Response Program Implementation Consortium, which includes The University of North Carolina at Pembroke, UNC Health Southeastern and others, to form a program that is “formed to people and our culture,” he said.

Barnes said conversations are ongoing with professionals across the state. Renovations of the facility are to begin next week.

“We’re gonna develop a program that everyone can be proud of,” he said.

Stein

Stein told The Robesonian he felt the discussions on Friday were productive.

“I’m really encouraged because for us to be successful in attacking the opioid crisis, that fight has to occur at the local level and there has to be widespread collaboration and what I heard today was exactly that,” he said.