Under a tentative legal settlement, Arizona could receive as much as $549 million to take on the opioid epidemic – and last week Globe and Miami pondered joining the agreement.

In July 2021, a group of state attorneys general announced terms of a settlement proposal with drug manufacturer Johnson & Johnson, along with distributors AmerisourceBergen, Cardinal Health and McKesson. Under the settlement, those companies would pay $26 billion to resolve current lawsuits; Arizona’s share of this would be as much as $549 million.

“The settlement comes as a result of investigations by state attorneys general into whether the three distributors fulfilled their legal duty to refuse to ship opioids to pharmacies that submitted suspicious drug orders and whether Johnson & Johnson misled patients and doctors about the addictive nature of opioid drugs,” Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich stated in an Aug. 23, 2021 press release announcing that his office had signed on. “The settlement would resolve claims of both states and local governments across the country.”

On October 11 Miami’s Town Council voted to sign the One Arizona Distribution of Opioid Settlement Funds Agreement, which sets up settlement fund distribution to participating communities around the state whether or not they have filed suit. The Globe City Council considered doing the same during their October 12 meeting, in a first reading of the item; they voted to move the item forward for their next meeting, when city staff will present more information.

Local governments will need to sign the settlements with Johnson & Johnson and the distributors separately from the One Arizona agreement. Signatures on the latter must be returned to Brnovich’s office by Nov. 10, 2021.

Settlement funds will be distributed by population, and are meant for opioid treatment, prevention and education. Miami Town Attorney Joe Estes said more information on the settlements, including how money received can be used, would be available within a month or two.

“There’s not a whole lot, if we got money, we could do with it. I think the best use of that money is to reimburse parents who had to put their kids through rehab a half dozen times, if they can show proof of it; let’s help out the people who had to spend tens of thousands of dollars. We know it’s not going to happen, but it would be a nice gesture,” said Miami Town Councilman Michael Black.

“Once we know what funding is available and what the restrictions are, we’ll build on that,” said Globe Police Chief Dale Walters.