CHARLOTTE — Gov. Josh Stein was in Charlotte Monday to tour the substance abuse rehab center, Hope Haven, on North Tryon Street.
He said the state has used roughly $1.5 billion in opioid settlement money on many things, including housing, treatment, and jobs.
He said it is working. The number of opioid deaths dropped from 2023 to 2024, which is the first decrease since before the pandemic.
However, Stein said there is more work to be done.
“Six Carolinians, on average, are going to die of a drug overdose today. Six today. Six yesterday. Six tomorrow,” Stein said. “That’s six families who will experience a pain, a hole in their hearts that they can never fill.”
Debbie Dalton’s son, Hunter, died from an overdose. She said he took a recreational drug, not knowing it was laced with fentanyl.
“I held his hand in the hospital for seven days, and he never regained consciousness, and I held my son’s hand as he took his last breath,” she said.
Dalton started a nonprofit focused on opioid awareness.
Meanwhile, Stein is pushing for a Fentanyl Control Unit, which would be a team of law enforcement and prosecutors. They would be “dedicated to getting fentanyl off of the streets,” he said.
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