Philanthropic organization contributes $50 million for NC fight against opioid abuse

A nonprofit is investing $120 million in North Carolina and four other states to help address the opioid epidemic. Bloomberg Philanthropies is giving money to states that have been hit hardest by opioid overdoses and where the drug-related fatalities increased in 2020.

Opioid-related deaths in North Carolina surged in the last decade. But there had been a slight downward turn before the pandemic hit. 

Last year saw a record number of fatal drug overdoses. Almost 3,000 North Carolinians died. Stokes, Rockingham, and Randolph counties were among the hardest hit in the Triad area.

The investment from Bloomberg Philanthropies will provide North Carolina with $10 million dollars over the next five years to enhance its current Opioid Action Plan and to start new programs.

Health experts say the COVID-19 pandemic has played a major part in a spike in overdose deaths nationally. 

The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that 93,000 people in the United States died from overdoses last year, the highest number ever recorded. The CDC says about 75 percent of those were related to opioids. 

Kentucky, New Mexico, New Jersey and Wisconsin are the other four states in this round of investments by the philanthropic organization. Pennsylvania and Michigan were the first states to receive the funding, bringing Bloomberg Philanthropies investments in combating the opioid crisis to $170 million.