.png)
The opioid crisis hit Black communities hardest. The settlement money should reflect that | NJ.com Op-ED
By Racquel Romans-Henry
Over the next 12 years, New Jersey has an opportunity to invest more than $1.1 billion in the communities most harmed by the opioid crisis and decades of punitive drug policies. These dollars can help repair that harm, address racial inequities and strengthen community-led solutions.
But that promise will go unfulfilled if the money flows through the same systems that have historically criminalized Black communities while denying them the resources needed to thrive.
The legacy of the War on Drugs
For decades, the United States treated drug use primarily as a criminal problem. When President Richard Nixon declared the War on Drugs in 1971, punitive policies fueled mass incarceration and deepened racial disparities. New Jersey adopted some of the country’s harshest drug laws, subjecting Black communities to disproportionate policing, incarceration and disinvestment.
But when white people began dying from opioids, the national narrative around drug use shifted.
That legacy persists in New Jersey today. Although overdose deaths have declined, the benefits of progress have not been shared equally.
As of 2024, the overdose death rate among Black residents remained 1.5 times that of white residents. Black communities continue to experience disproportionate overdose harm after decades of policies that criminalized drug use, destabilized families and underinvested in community health and well-being.
A chance to change course
Opioid settlement dollars offer an opportunity to change course. Through 2038, New Jersey and its local governments will receive more than $1.1 billion. These resources should do more than address the immediate crisis. They should help repair the lasting damage caused by punitive drug policies and ensure communities bearing the greatest burden of overdose deaths have meaningful access to investments in their futures.
New Jersey already has a roadmap. The statewide opioid settlement fund strategic plan, developed with community stakeholder input, prioritizes harm reduction, treatment, safe and supportive housing and coordinated services.
Settlement investments should advance this vision through prevention, youth opportunities, crisis response, violence prevention and reentry housing. They should not perpetuate punitive approaches or fund activities without a clear, evidence-based connection to reducing opioid-related harm.
Who decides where the money goes?
Yet reports released earlier this month underscore the need for stronger oversight. During fiscal year 2026, state and local governments spent more than $60 million in settlement funds on activities ranging from concerts, summer camps and recreational events to law enforcement personnel, training and equipment.
Some investments may serve legitimate purposes. But these reports raise questions about whether spending is grounded in lived experience and public health evidence, aligned with the statewide plan and directed toward reducing opioid-related harm.
When law enforcement has a central role in spending decisions while people with lived experience and public health professionals lack meaningful input, New Jersey risks reproducing a familiar pattern: Institutions with a history of criminalizing Black communities retain power over resources meant to address the consequences of those policies.
That is why accountability must be about both how the money is spent and who gets to decide.
Governments must disclose who receives settlement funds, how much they receive, whom programs reach and what outcomes they achieve. Communities disproportionately harmed by overdose and punitive drug policies must have meaningful decision-making power, not simply be informed after spending decisions are made.
Give us what’s ours
Opioid settlement dollars must not become another pot of money for business as usual. They are an opportunity to confront racial inequities, repair harm and invest in the community-led infrastructure that keeps people healthy, safe and connected.
The communities that have borne the greatest burden of this crisis deserve more than promises. They deserve resources, a voice in how those resources are spent and the opportunity to shape their own futures.
The measure of justice is not merely whether we recognize the harm but whether we have the courage to restore to Black communities what generations of policy and neglect have taken away.
Give us what’s ours.
Racquel Romans Henry is policy director at Salvation and Social Justice, a Black-led, Trenton-based statewide organization.
Comments