The Baltimore City Council is set to hold its first hearings on the opioid issues in the area since the city sued drug companies for their role in the crisis.
Councilwoman Phylicia Porter is planning a series of joint committee hearings focusing on the city’s response to opioids, legislative oversight, rehabilitation programs and substance abuse clinics.
The hearings do not yet have a date because Porter is waiting for Baltimore City Circuit Judge Lawerence P. Fletcher Hill to hand down his decision on how much AmerisourceBergen and McKesson will have to pay to abate the damage they caused the city.
In November, a jury found the companies liable for their role in the opioid crisis and awarded $266 million to the city. However, Fletcher could order the companies to pay billions of dollars to abate the issue. That decision could come as early as the end of the month or the beginning of March.
So far, Baltimore has won $668 million from companies involved in opioids.
However, due to the ongoing litigation, the mayor’s office has been mum about many opioid issues, raising some concerns from the council.
Porter’s hearings will be the first look into the details of how the city plans to address the opioid crisis now that it has won funding.
“We’re not only just focusing on oversight of the crisis, but really looking at it from a holistic perspective, looking at the issues of the quality of life that this crisis has impacted,” Porter told WYPR. “We're looking at community, we're looking at quality of life, we're looking at education, we're looking at transportation. You know this, this is really an aspect of a lost generation that we really have to take a concerted approach on.”
The mayor’s office has already set up a system for how to spend the funds the city wins.
In August, Mayor Brandon Scott created a governance structure for the money through an executive order.
In the executive order, the city states that the funds will be used purely for substance abuse and overdose programs and services. That includes treatment, recovery, harm reduction and social determinants to health associated with the opioid epidemic. The order also sanctions the use of the funds for infrastructure relating to those programs and their evaluation.
The money can go to both governmental and private organizations for those purposes.
The city is in the process of creating an opioid restitution advisory board to recommend the best way to spend those funds.
However, the city council feels it should have some say in how those funds are used and ensuring they are used properly.
“We are fully engaging in an evaluation process where each council member is able to weigh in on funds spent in their respective districts,” Porter said. “The council needs to do what the council does, and so when we're talking about those legislative oversights, making sure that those funds are spent expeditiously and, quite frankly, financially responsible.”
During the litigation, the mayor’s office got pushback from Councilman Mark Conway as he tried to schedule his own hearings on the opioid crisis in July.
Those hearings were canceled as officials were unable to publicly comment on certain topics due to the litigation.
The mayor’s office says this series of hearings is different.
“We commend Chairwoman Porter and Council President Cohen on the diligent approach they’ve taken here, and we have been in communication with her as she has outlined the path forward to present the most robust series possible,” said Bryan Doherty, the mayor’s deputy chief of staff for communications and strategic policy. “Once the hearings are officially scheduled after the conclusion of litigation, we look forward to participating.”
The funds won by the city will be used for years to come as Baltimore plans to invest most of it into a trust for future use.
