LAWTON – Comanche County is moving forward with plans to work with other southwest Oklahoma counties on addressing the state’s opioid crisis.
With little discussion, the Comanche County Board of Commissioners voted 3-0 March 18 to approve a memorandum of understanding with 16 other counties. Participating counties will work together to develop programs and services to help people struggling with opioid addiction, other types of substance abuse and mental health issues.
While the opioid crisis has fueled a surge in drug overdoses and drug-related deaths, other types of substance abuse and mental health problems are also on the rise, participating county officials said in the agreement.
“Thus, the prevalent opioid use disorder in southwest Oklahoma is ideally addressed through concurrent efforts to mitigating the co-occurring substance use disorders and mental health conditions,” they said.
Participating counties will establish the Southwest Oklahoma Opioid Crisis Advisory Committee, which will include one representative from each of the region’s prosecutorial districts. Those representatives include:
• Beckham County Commissioner Tate Finnell, District 2.
• Tillman County Commissioner Levi Krasser, District 3.
• Comanche County Commissioner Josh Powers, District 3.
• Jefferson County Commissioner Ty Phillips, District 2.
The four committee members will choose a fifth member at their first meeting. Opioid crisis The agreement was the latest development in southwest Oklahoma counties’ efforts to address the opioid crisis.
In February, Comanche County hired the Oklahoma City-based Center for Economic Development Law to help southwest Oklahoma counties establish a public trust. The trust will use the counties’ share of opioid settlement dollars funds to establish a treatment center, which will focus on treating drug addiction and other types of substance abuse.
Funding for the treatment center will come from a combination of opioid settlement money and grants.
In August 2023, the Oklahoma Opioid Abatement Board announced that it would issue up to $23 million in grants for projects designed to address the opioid crisis. The grants will be funded with Oklahoma’s share of money from national settlement agreements with the manufacturers and sellers of opioid prescription drugs, which was approximately $900 million.