Governor declares Recovery Month, says he has ‘grave concerns’ about opioid-settlement spending as opioid commission meets
Kentucky Health News
More than 200 people attended an event to mark National Recovery Month on Friday, Sept. 22 in the state Capitol, hearing a message that recovery is possible — along with “grave concerns” from Gov. Andy Beshear about how the Opioid Abatement Advisory Commission may spend the millions coming to the state from lawsuit settlements with opioid makers and distributors.
The recovery event was opened by Dr. Katherine “Katie” Marks, commissioner of the Department for Behavioral Health, Developmental and Intellectual Disabilities, saying Kentucky is leading the way when it comes to access to recovery, and that by working together, recovery is possible.
“Seven out of 10 people, of adults, who have experienced substance-use or mental health conditions . . . are in recovery; they are here with us. We are those people. It reminds us over and over that recovery is not just possible, it is probable,” said Marks, who ran the state Opioid Response Effort before becoming commissioner.
Before signing a proclamation recognizing September as Recovery Month in Kentucky, Gov. Andy Beshear touted a number of the programs in the state to help people who are in recovery or seeking recovery. He noted the addition of six more Recovery Ready Communities, bringing that number to seven.
“For the first time I can remember, we in the commonwealth have a bed for anyone ready to go into treatment,” Beshear said to rousing applause.
Beshear said that in his previous job, he sued “more opioid companies than any other attorney general in the country.” He called the funds coming from settlements of those lawsuits “blood money” and said it must be spent in the “right way.”
“It is so critical that we use the hundreds of millions of dollars that we will receive in the right way to support recovery, to support treatment. And please lift your voice in the committee that is making decisions right now that I have grave concerns about,” he said, referring to the opioid commission.
“When we haven’t seen $10 million going into treatment, spending $40 million to support some company’s private patent for a drug that the FDA will not and does not approve is not the way we ought to be spending these funds.”
Beshear was referring to the proposal by the commission’s chair and executive director, Bryan Hubbard, to spend $42 million of the settlement money for research to get ibogaine, a psychedelic drug that is anecdotally reported to stop withdrawal symptoms, approved for use in the United States.
Hubbard is an employee of, and the commission is housed in the office of, Attorney General Daniel Cameron, the Republican nominee for governor against Democrat Beshear in the Nov. 7 election.
The commission has held two full days of public hearings on the proposal, but has not acted on it.
Beshear said at the Capitol event, “We ought to be spending to lift up the groups that are here, that do the hard work day in and day out, and you know what, save people one life at a time. It’s important that we spend every single one of these dollars right, because I saw what these dollars can be. Sometimes just a little help, just a hand up, to the folks that are already doing the hard work can unlock the potential to do so much more.”
“People do not choose to have substance-use disorder and all of the terrible things that go along with it,” Stack said. “These chemicals are powerful. They alter brain chemistry. And they impair decision-making in ways that are not human failings; they are biological realities.”
Stack wrapped up by encouraging people seeking help to use one of the many resources available in Kentucky, including findhelpnowky.org; findrecoveryhousingnowky.org; the Kentucky Opioid Assistance and Resource Hotline at 1-800-854-6813, which is available 24/7; or the 988 suicide/crisis hotline.
Lee encouraged he listeners to reach out to anyone they know on Medicaid and to ask them to make sure the state has their correct contact information so they don’t lose coverage. Her agency has resumed its annual renewal process, following the end of pandemic rules that allowed continuous enrollment without contact for renewal.
“I want to make sure that I do the thing that I think is most important, which is that we recover out loud,” Elswick said. “That we stand up without any shame, without any fear and say ‘This is who I am. This is the problem that I struggled with. This is the way that I found help, and hopefully shine the light for someone else.'”
“I see it every single day,” he said. “We’ve created an artificial division between my friends who are in recovery and my friends who still struggle with active addiction,” who he later added are just as deserving of access to resources and recovery capital.
In closing, Elswick said, ” We know that addiction is a chronic disorder. And what I’ve learned is that means it’s a chronic disorder for me also. And that means that tonight when I leave here, if God forbid I return to use, I hope that there are very many pathways there for me and not just one. I hope that your response won’t be to throw me in jail. I hope that your response won’t be to punish me, to demand perfection. I hope you’ll give me an opportunity.”