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By Mike Barnhardt

Enterprise Record

The numbers are mind boggling.

More than 20,000 people in North Carolina have lost their lives to opioid overdoses.

In 2020 alone, at least 13 Davie residents died from such overdoses.

Help may be on the way.

Davie County is set to receive more than $3.3 million to help fight the opioid crisis. The money comes from $750 million the state is receiving as part of a settlement between states – led by North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein – and major opioid manufacturing companies.

“The morphine molecule has left a trail of death, destruction and damaged families and communities in its wake all across our state,” Stein said in comments released last week. “Too many people are mourning their loved ones and too many jails are filled with people addicted to opioids.”

The money is going to county governments, which should know best how to treat the crisis in their own communities, Stein said. The funding requires transparency and community input.

“Now is the time for each person in Davie County to reach out to your county commissioners to make your voice heard,” he said. “I encourage you to share your thoughts with them. I’m proud that this money will ensure that people with substance use disorder will get the help they need and bring us closer to ending the opioid epidemic.”