A long, hard journey begins

Daily Herald Editorial Board

We won’t know the precise impact of the opioid crisis on suburban lives and families in 2023 until reports are released early next year, but the experience of the past decade or more, as well as the numbers we have seen so far this year, can leave us disappointingly certain of one thing: The picture will not be a good one.

For years, health and safety officials have been fighting an ever-changing, ever-more-challenging battle against opioid use and addiction. While all counties in the suburban area have devoted resources and programming to the struggle, the nature of the disease has been such that its burden has constantly grown heavier and faster than the state, county and local communities can keep up with.

Now, though, there is some hope for a better outlook. As a result of legal settlements with drug manufacturers and distributors based on accusations of improper marketing of substances known to be highly addictive, billions of dollars will be distributed to states and local governments over the next 18 years. And, as our Katlyn Smith reported last weekend, the impact is beginning to be felt in the suburbs.

DuPage County, which is expected to receive between $15 million and $20 million over the course of the settlement period, has just approved $850,00 to help staff a crisis recovery center in Wheaton. Law enforcement and health officials in Kane County have so far received $1.176 million, which they’re using to enhance local drug research and hope to expand availability of lifesaving Narcan. Lake County has hired an opioid coordinator and launched increased Narcan training.

All of these efforts and more will help authorities respond to the damages opioids are causing. That alone is an encouraging development. But more important is the hope these funds offer for gaining ground on, to borrow a phrase from Abraham Lincoln in another devastating conflict, the terrible arithmetic in suffering and death that opioids have imposed.

Mark Pfister, executive director at the Lake County Health Department, stated the case this way: “This settlement does not undo the damage that has been done. I am excited that these settlement funds will be used to further assist those with substance use disorders and prevent further loss of life.”

That prospect indeed is the real value of these settlement funds, and it’s the goal on which officials must constantly train their attention. Treatment, rehabilitation and recovery are critical objectives, of course. But the success of these efforts won’t fully be seen until we’re not just helping those who have become addicted but are actually reducing their number.

That the scope of the settlement is nearly two decades long is a sad testament to the difficult nature of the job ahead. Thankfully, officials remain undaunted and are beginning the long, hard work of conquering a problem that has been so intractable for so long.