Forsyth County leaders discuss strategies to combat opioid crisis during strategy input session

Forsyth County leaders discussed plans for more than $36 million in opioid settlement money, $6 million of which is headed straight to Winston-Salem.

Forsyth County leaders discussed plans for more than $36 million in opioid settlement money, $6 million of which is headed straight to Winston-Salem.

This money will be stretched over an 18-year span; distribution of the funds started about two years ago.

During the information session that discussed this settlement money, county and municipal leaders discussed ways the community can partner together to combat the opioid crisis.

King Mayor Rick McCraw says one strategy they’re implementing is educating seniors on how to handle Narcan.

“Because a lot of seniors now are raising their grandchildren or maybe another senior mate that may have taken their medicine twice, and they need to have Narcan,” McCraw said. “To be educated to administer Narcan if it arises if you need to do that.”

But the focus is also on young people.

Cheryl Wilson lost her son to fentanyl in 2020. She says the next step in this conversation is erasing the stigma surrounding Narcan.

“It enables breathing, it enables life, it enables a family to remain intact,” Wilson said. “I distribute naloxone to anyone in need, sometimes who are not in need, because I feel like they might need it eventually. And it’s how I keep my son alive.”

County leaders say this opioid settlement has some limitations; it must be used for evidence-based treatment and prevention.

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