Last year, more than 100,000 Americans died of drug overdoses. Advocates and family members marked the tragic toll with cardboard grave markers on the lawn of the U.S. Capitol on Sept. 23.
In Kentucky, Attorney General Daniel Cameron, the Republican candidate for governor, wants sole credit for the hundreds of millions of dollars his state is receiving to fight the opioid epidemic. In a post on X, formerly Twitter,that his opponent, former attorney general and current Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear,"filed a lot of lawsuits during his time office, but in this race, there is only one person who has actually delivered dollars to fight the opioid epidemic, and it's not him.
West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey, a Republican gubernatorial candidate for 2024, has repeatedly boasted of securing the"highest per capita settlements in the nation" in news conferences and on, with endorsements from Louisiana sheriffs and prosecutors.
The ibogaine announcement caused additional controversy. It's an experimental drug, and, if approved, the $42 million allocation would be the single-largest investment from the commission, which is housed in Cameron's agency.Neither Cameron's office nor his campaign responded to requests for comment.
He also said his two appointees to the commission were caught off guard by the public announcement on ibogaine, despite their role overseeing settlement funds.