What you need to know:
- Mat-Su officials want to leverage health powers held by the area’s cities to better distribute more than $2 million in opioid settlement funds for addiction treatment and prevention services. The Mat-Su Borough does not have health powers under Alaska state law and can currently use the funding only for training and education services.
- Under the proposal, the borough would use the cities’ health powers to significantly expand the types of organizations eligible to access funding for opioid-related treatment, prevention, recovery and harm-reduction services.
- About 360 Alaskans died from drug overdoses in 2023, a nearly 45% increase from 2022, according to state health data. An average of 21 drug overdoses occurred in the borough annually between 2018 and 2022, according to borough data.
PALMER – Millions in funding could soon be available for Mat-Su-based opioid treatment services under a proposed grant partnership between the borough and the region’s cities.