The state organization in charge of Virginia’s opioid settlement money has begun its task in earnest.

In 2021, lawmakers created the Opioid Abatement Authority, a state agency to oversee the distribution of more than $500 million that the state expects to receive from companies like Walgreens, CVS, Purdue Pharma, and others involved in making or distributing opioid pills.

The authority, which has garnered acclaim for its work, has to date granted around $34 million in a multi-pronged strategy to combat opioid addiction, including funding clinics, Narcan, mobile outreach units, and medical treatment programs for the incarcerated, plus advertising campaigns to educate the public.

The Department of Corrections is using $1.2 million to begin rolling out medication for addicts in its prisons. The program, known as medication-assisted treatment, involves administering a monthly shot that helps manage opioid addiction. The program will treat 30 incarcerated individuals in its first year, according to the agency’s application to the Authority.

Read the full story in the Richmond Times-Dispatch.