The Nash County Board of Commissioners will ultimately decide on how the county’s $9.8 million share of the National Opioid Settlement fund will be spent in the future, but a series of community forums on the issue has given area residents an opportunity to share their views on the topic with county leaders.
At the final forum, held Thursday in Rocky Mount, a mother spoke passionately of her relentless efforts to help her son in recovery from substance use.
For Annette Daughtery, whose 31-year-old son has been battling addiction for 19 years, the overdose death of another women’s daughter taught her that giving up is not an option, even in moments of darkest despair, she said.
“For those in active addiction there is always hope,” Daughtery said.
“My son told me (recently) he didn’t think there was a way to live and be happy and have a life outside of using substances. He’s been using substances since he was 12. And now he is 31. He didn’t think there was another way. There is another way. There is is always hope.”
Daughtery said she was posting online about being “tired of this” when the woman who had lost her daughter to drug overdose responded to her.
“I’d give anything for one more day to be in this fight with my child,” the woman wrote in response, Daughtery said.
“From that day to this, I thank God for every single day I’ve been in this fight with my child,” Daughtery added.
Of the mindset a parent has to have when trying to support a child struggling with substance use, she said it’s about not taking “no” for answer. She spoke of her desperate efforts to help her son, making call after call trying to find an inpatient rehabilitation center that would admit him.
Residential care experts at the meeting spoke of the sparse availability of long-term, inpatient rehabilitation beds across the state.
Of the battles being fought and won locally, Nash County Assistant Manager Tia Foula said the distribution of Narcan to emergency medical services and law enforcement personnel has dramatically reduced overdose deaths in the area.
Foula is also Nash County’s Opioid Settlement manager.
Of the 29 reported incidents of overdose in Nash County in July, all were overturned with the use of Narcan, according to a report read at the meeting Thursday.
Feedback collected from the meetings will be used by the county Board of Commissioners to formulate an action plan on how to best spend the county’s portion of the national settlement with pharmaceutical distributors and a prescription opioid manufacturer.
Nash County Commissioner Gwen Wilkins was present at Thursday night’s meeting. Wilkins said she was impressed by reports of the number of lives that the overdose reversing drug, Narcan, has saved in recent years. While reports have shown local overdoses to be trending upward, overdose deaths have decreased.
“The most immediate need I see for the opioid settlement funds is for purchasing more units of Narcan for widespread distribution,” Wilkins said.
Over the long term, she said people recovering from substance use locally need access to housing and residential treatment centers. She also echoed the opinions of addiction treatment professionals at the meeting that opioids are being prescribed to patients who aren’t aware of their addictive qualities.
For those seeking resources now for drug addiction, the Coalition to Addiction Recovery and Education, an organization dually funded by Nash County and UNC Health Nash, has a website, nashcountycare.com, with links to connecting to detox facilities, inpatient treatment facilities, faith-based support groups and 12-step programs.
Foula opened the forum Thursday by telling the attendees that this was the last of five Nash County Opioid Settlement meetings held over the spring and summer months. Nash County has collected approximately $2.5 million in Opioid Settlement funds since 2022. None of the funds have been spent. The state’s share of the National Opioid Settlement is $1.5 billion.
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