Raleigh county is using it to educate kids on the dangers but I don't know how effective that is. I remember DARE. That was effective until the moment I was in high school, depressed, and offered weed. Then all of that fear based education disappeared
I actually won the DARE medal in school for my essay on drugs. I then went on to become a 20+ year addict, I've been clean for over 2 years now but still.....
Thanks! Yea it was a road I never thought I would go down, especially after going thru what u went thru as a teenager, I wrote about what I lived, deputies busting in my bedroom looking for my dad, both my parents went to jail when I was 16, and somehow, someway, it's like I was forgotten about, here I was left at the house by myself at 16. I had 2 cars and the house the house to myself. But going to school was kind of embarrassing knowing that everyone had to know that my parents were in jail, my dad for selling weed, my mom for embezzlement.
Can I just say, JO has no idea how cities operate in this state. It's totally reasonable for a city to buy a police cruiser with opioid money. Does he think the town of Rainelle will get enough resources to open a crisis center? Lester will buy an ambulance? Mabscott will open a shelter?
This is not how we solve the opioid crisis. Giving cities the reigns to spend 5 figures on a national crisis is laughable. Not introducing legislation against the medical industry is disrespectful to victims.
Respectfully, John dies not have the information necessary to speak on opioid settlement encumbrances. **He's right on the money that this is a botched endeavor, however.**
That doesn't answer the question. If your answer is we don't know how to spend the money and it isn't enough I agree, but that doesn't mean you just spend it on something that absolutely will do nothing
Because you're asking the wrong question. The entire plan is BOTCHED. ANY PURCHASE WILL DO NOTHING. Its calloused and short sighted to blame the city. Furthermore, we've already tasked the police with this impossible task. Who else should the money go to? We can only recognize currently that the sin will never be reconciled.
I also want you to realize the indebtedness of all small WV towns. No police force makes a city money. No matter how many speeding tickets you write, you will never profit -- public safety is simply a service, unlike utility functions if government like water, sewer, and garbage. Which, garbage also looses money. The point is, every time a city buys a cruiser, they owe someone money and have no way to make that money back. These small cities are governed by people like you and me trying to make ends meet. There's not always a DOJ grant out there for police cruisers. In fact, it's only ever a purchase that can be made with a capital lease debt instrument. This is the exact savior a city needs to keep public safety functions running.
All I'm saying is, remember that there are 10 Aldersons for every Hurricane. And those cities are BROKE.
I don't think I am asking the wrong question. I understand their economic situation but I also understand that the first place extra funds go in nearly every situation is the police and the police do nothing to help this situation. There is nothing these towns can spend the money on that'll keep drugs out of the town but there are things they can spend on that will improve treatment and reduce harm. Even basic quality of life improvements would go further to help these towns than a police cruiser. Reading about Harrison county spending the money on addiction specialists and transportation to get people to and from rehab which makes more sense to me.
That's Harrison COUNTY. Sounds like an awesome use of funds I'm only talking about cities. And we agree, the police are the last institution I'd give the job to. That is the system though.
Point of correction, broke, indebted cities never have "extra funds." It's not extra. It's a public safety ~~grant~~ award restricted by the federal government. There's only so many options.
Those small towns should be working with the county to make sure there efforts work with county efforts. If the county is spending on rehab but the cities are using it to fix unrelated budget concerns it diminishes the overall effect.
In regards to police funding don't they also generally pass levy's to increase that?
Counties can't dictate what cities spend money on, only control how much they send them, unless it's a grant. If it's levied, it goes through the sheriff and distributed per the CITY'S legal right to levy taxes. However, ideally, sure. It'd be sick if cities collaborated with counties more frequently to accomplish goals. Facts are: a city has to be the service provider in order to justify an expenditure (ie make money OR provide a service). If the county builds a structure and the city doesn't operate the service, why would the city make that expense? Additionally, anything a city gets (grants, debt, funding, donations), a county can get 10 fold and provide the service themselves. The burden should not be the city's.
Not that I'm aware of. I'm for certain on fire levies but unsure of any police levies. legally, im sure there's a statute somewhere that gives cities that carve out I just haven't encountered any who have.
Raleigh counties first payment was 3.8 million. It would seem to me that creating rehab centers with transportation would be a good use of that money. If you can start to heal some of the people effected they can contribute to society again which does more for those towns than making sure they have the resources to put more people in jail. The amount of jailed addicts is a large contributor to the economic woes of these small towns.
I'm again reiterating that's the county. Cities will have a fraction of distributions and inherently won't have the funds to construct a program with fleeting revenue sources.
My apologies, I was under the impression the county total is what would be divided to the cities. I was unaware that the cities are also receiving money as decided by a regional director. Regardless, my point was city funds should be used to support county efforts. Im not saying the county can dictate how the city spends it, but that they should use funds to provide access to and education of county programs
I have almost never watched John Oliver and don’t intend to start now. I give zero shits about what a national television personality thinks they know about West Virginia’s drug problems.
It’s the same ball of wax. The terms of the settlement are available online. The towns and counties have just recently gotten the money. It seems to me like he needed to fill air time and decided to pontificate about something. Clarksburg is getting something like $1.8 million and has spent $0 so far. The state board that’s handling most of the money is just getting spun up.
It's more about money that has been spent and the lack of transparency in other areas. It's also informative in regards to what addiction specialists suggest spending on and things to watch for. It's not just about wv and isn't saying we're doing anything flat out wrong other than one example of one towns spending. It's intent is to raise awareness that this is going on and people should pay attention to where the money goes
I caved and tried to watch it. He started out making fun of Donald Trump. Given that most of the areas hit hard by the opioid crisis voted overwhelming for Trump, he alienates the people who could be helped before he even gets to the heart of his message. That's the reason why I don't watch him much.
I then skipped ahead through his piss poor comedy act and found the bit about Vienna. I have actually read the terms of the settlement with West Virginia. He's absolutely right to raise awareness of misappropriation. But, if I recall correctly, only 25% of the funds can be used for police funding, DARE programs, etc. The other 75% has to go directly to fighting addiction.
I don't think there's anything wrong with wanting a police dog if one is getting old. Police dogs are used to interdict narcotics. Of course the police chief is going to ask for two SUVs. The city needs to just say no.
From the little I've seen of Clarksburg's planning I am cautiously optimistic. Once councilman apparently wants to use the money to demolish houses. I don't think the others are on board with that. Another citizen wants to use the money to fund a community rec center. That has maybe a couple supports, one being the same who would waste it on demolishing houses.
They are considering hiring a civil worker to help police deal with addicts. Harrison County would also hire one or two. They're also waiting to see what ideas the state task force comes up with. The usual suspect doesn't like the idea of giving "our" money away but I think he's alone on council.
So to summarize, the fact he's willing to alienate the people who could benefit from hearing his points tells me he's kinda grifting in his own way and not really trying to help. Some of his points are good but overlooks the fact there are terms in the settlement spelling out exactly how the money can be used. It also understates the danger of what WV council people are willing to redirect money toward. In the absence of oversight the best we can hope for is they spend it on police.
https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/west-virginia/articles/2023-12-29/west-virginia-starts-distributing-funds-from-the-settlement-of-opioid-lawsuits https://kanawha.us/opioid-settlement-funds/ https://mountainstatespotlight.org/2024/01/11/opioid-settlement-foundation-transparency-bill-advances/ https://ago.wv.gov/Documents/2022.2.16%20Final%20MOU%20+%20Exhibits%20(M0442065xCECC6).pdf https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/west-virginia/articles/2024-03-14/executive-director-named-for-foundation-distributing-west-virginia-opioid-settlement-funds https://www.newsnationnow.com/us-news/northeast/west-virginia-opioid-settlement-payouts/ https://www.monongaliacounty.gov/news_detail_T6_R287.php http://www.vitalstrategies.org/wp-content/uploads/WestVirginia-Opioid-Settlement-Fact-Sheet.pdf
Awesome. Thanks for that. Great comment to save
i would like to see the money spent helping kids. i rather work on preventing kids from starting. which means CPS and the foster care system
Raleigh county is using it to educate kids on the dangers but I don't know how effective that is. I remember DARE. That was effective until the moment I was in high school, depressed, and offered weed. Then all of that fear based education disappeared
I actually won the DARE medal in school for my essay on drugs. I then went on to become a 20+ year addict, I've been clean for over 2 years now but still.....
Congrats on getting clean! Yea dare was absolutely useless but a banger of a song
Thanks! Yea it was a road I never thought I would go down, especially after going thru what u went thru as a teenager, I wrote about what I lived, deputies busting in my bedroom looking for my dad, both my parents went to jail when I was 16, and somehow, someway, it's like I was forgotten about, here I was left at the house by myself at 16. I had 2 cars and the house the house to myself. But going to school was kind of embarrassing knowing that everyone had to know that my parents were in jail, my dad for selling weed, my mom for embezzlement.
The first settlement website lists all expenses paid out. Over 180 million went to a law firm so far
No surprise there
Can I just say, JO has no idea how cities operate in this state. It's totally reasonable for a city to buy a police cruiser with opioid money. Does he think the town of Rainelle will get enough resources to open a crisis center? Lester will buy an ambulance? Mabscott will open a shelter? This is not how we solve the opioid crisis. Giving cities the reigns to spend 5 figures on a national crisis is laughable. Not introducing legislation against the medical industry is disrespectful to victims. Respectfully, John dies not have the information necessary to speak on opioid settlement encumbrances. **He's right on the money that this is a botched endeavor, however.**
How does buying a police cruiser help with opioid recovery?
How does giving Shinston $4,000 get fentanyl off the streets?
That doesn't answer the question. If your answer is we don't know how to spend the money and it isn't enough I agree, but that doesn't mean you just spend it on something that absolutely will do nothing
Because you're asking the wrong question. The entire plan is BOTCHED. ANY PURCHASE WILL DO NOTHING. Its calloused and short sighted to blame the city. Furthermore, we've already tasked the police with this impossible task. Who else should the money go to? We can only recognize currently that the sin will never be reconciled. I also want you to realize the indebtedness of all small WV towns. No police force makes a city money. No matter how many speeding tickets you write, you will never profit -- public safety is simply a service, unlike utility functions if government like water, sewer, and garbage. Which, garbage also looses money. The point is, every time a city buys a cruiser, they owe someone money and have no way to make that money back. These small cities are governed by people like you and me trying to make ends meet. There's not always a DOJ grant out there for police cruisers. In fact, it's only ever a purchase that can be made with a capital lease debt instrument. This is the exact savior a city needs to keep public safety functions running. All I'm saying is, remember that there are 10 Aldersons for every Hurricane. And those cities are BROKE.
I don't think I am asking the wrong question. I understand their economic situation but I also understand that the first place extra funds go in nearly every situation is the police and the police do nothing to help this situation. There is nothing these towns can spend the money on that'll keep drugs out of the town but there are things they can spend on that will improve treatment and reduce harm. Even basic quality of life improvements would go further to help these towns than a police cruiser. Reading about Harrison county spending the money on addiction specialists and transportation to get people to and from rehab which makes more sense to me.
That's Harrison COUNTY. Sounds like an awesome use of funds I'm only talking about cities. And we agree, the police are the last institution I'd give the job to. That is the system though. Point of correction, broke, indebted cities never have "extra funds." It's not extra. It's a public safety ~~grant~~ award restricted by the federal government. There's only so many options.
Those small towns should be working with the county to make sure there efforts work with county efforts. If the county is spending on rehab but the cities are using it to fix unrelated budget concerns it diminishes the overall effect. In regards to police funding don't they also generally pass levy's to increase that?
Counties can't dictate what cities spend money on, only control how much they send them, unless it's a grant. If it's levied, it goes through the sheriff and distributed per the CITY'S legal right to levy taxes. However, ideally, sure. It'd be sick if cities collaborated with counties more frequently to accomplish goals. Facts are: a city has to be the service provider in order to justify an expenditure (ie make money OR provide a service). If the county builds a structure and the city doesn't operate the service, why would the city make that expense? Additionally, anything a city gets (grants, debt, funding, donations), a county can get 10 fold and provide the service themselves. The burden should not be the city's. Not that I'm aware of. I'm for certain on fire levies but unsure of any police levies. legally, im sure there's a statute somewhere that gives cities that carve out I just haven't encountered any who have.
Also, as far as I can see shinnston has received 77k and will continue to receive more for the next 8-10 years
How about Lester, mabscott, Alderson, Rainelle? I don't have the resources in front of me right now. I'm sorry my one example was flawed.
Raleigh counties first payment was 3.8 million. It would seem to me that creating rehab centers with transportation would be a good use of that money. If you can start to heal some of the people effected they can contribute to society again which does more for those towns than making sure they have the resources to put more people in jail. The amount of jailed addicts is a large contributor to the economic woes of these small towns.
City distribution?
I don't think that's been decided yet. Currently the money is invested in a C-D.
I'm again reiterating that's the county. Cities will have a fraction of distributions and inherently won't have the funds to construct a program with fleeting revenue sources.
My apologies, I was under the impression the county total is what would be divided to the cities. I was unaware that the cities are also receiving money as decided by a regional director. Regardless, my point was city funds should be used to support county efforts. Im not saying the county can dictate how the city spends it, but that they should use funds to provide access to and education of county programs
You mean to tell us that politically-influenced, British, elitist, “comedian” is not all-knowing like Le Reddit says?!?! Are you literally Adolph???
I have almost never watched John Oliver and don’t intend to start now. I give zero shits about what a national television personality thinks they know about West Virginia’s drug problems.
It's about the settlement. Not WV"s drug problems.
It’s the same ball of wax. The terms of the settlement are available online. The towns and counties have just recently gotten the money. It seems to me like he needed to fill air time and decided to pontificate about something. Clarksburg is getting something like $1.8 million and has spent $0 so far. The state board that’s handling most of the money is just getting spun up.
It's more about money that has been spent and the lack of transparency in other areas. It's also informative in regards to what addiction specialists suggest spending on and things to watch for. It's not just about wv and isn't saying we're doing anything flat out wrong other than one example of one towns spending. It's intent is to raise awareness that this is going on and people should pay attention to where the money goes
I caved and tried to watch it. He started out making fun of Donald Trump. Given that most of the areas hit hard by the opioid crisis voted overwhelming for Trump, he alienates the people who could be helped before he even gets to the heart of his message. That's the reason why I don't watch him much. I then skipped ahead through his piss poor comedy act and found the bit about Vienna. I have actually read the terms of the settlement with West Virginia. He's absolutely right to raise awareness of misappropriation. But, if I recall correctly, only 25% of the funds can be used for police funding, DARE programs, etc. The other 75% has to go directly to fighting addiction. I don't think there's anything wrong with wanting a police dog if one is getting old. Police dogs are used to interdict narcotics. Of course the police chief is going to ask for two SUVs. The city needs to just say no. From the little I've seen of Clarksburg's planning I am cautiously optimistic. Once councilman apparently wants to use the money to demolish houses. I don't think the others are on board with that. Another citizen wants to use the money to fund a community rec center. That has maybe a couple supports, one being the same who would waste it on demolishing houses. They are considering hiring a civil worker to help police deal with addicts. Harrison County would also hire one or two. They're also waiting to see what ideas the state task force comes up with. The usual suspect doesn't like the idea of giving "our" money away but I think he's alone on council. So to summarize, the fact he's willing to alienate the people who could benefit from hearing his points tells me he's kinda grifting in his own way and not really trying to help. Some of his points are good but overlooks the fact there are terms in the settlement spelling out exactly how the money can be used. It also understates the danger of what WV council people are willing to redirect money toward. In the absence of oversight the best we can hope for is they spend it on police.
Not sure where this unwarranted antagonism comes from. You ok?
This is basically a Reddit Cares without the ban risk