Michigan received its second annual distribution of $425 million from the national opioid litigation settlement fund Wednesday, with state officials announcing specific allocations to county health departments, treatment providers, harm reduction programs, and recovery housing initiatives across all 83 counties — the most comprehensive opioid response investment in the state’s history.

The distribution, managed by the Michigan Opioid Advisory Commission, followed a formula that weighted allocation toward counties with the highest overdose mortality rates, largest unmet treatment needs, and lowest access to certified medication-assisted treatment providers. Wayne, Kent, Oakland, and Macomb counties received the largest distributions in absolute terms, while rural counties in the Upper Peninsula and the northern Lower Peninsula received disproportionately higher per-capita allocations given their historically inadequate treatment infrastructure.

Attorney General Dana Nessel, whose office led Michigan’s participation in the multi-state settlement with pharmaceutical distributors AmerisourceBergen, Cardinal Health, McKesson, and Johnson & Johnson, said the distributions represented hard-won accountability from companies that helped fuel the crisis while also providing meaningful resources to communities still healing from its effects.

Among the specific investments announced Wednesday, $120 million was directed to expand treatment capacity by funding 140 new certified addiction medicine providers, 62 new residential treatment beds, and the establishment of crisis stabilization centers in 12 counties that currently have none. An additional $85 million was earmarked for recovery support services including housing assistance, peer recovery coaching, childcare for parents in treatment, and workforce reintegration programs.

Harm reduction programs, including syringe exchange services, naloxone distribution, and fentanyl test strip access, received $32 million — a significant increase from prior years that advocates said reflected a growing evidence base for harm reduction’s effectiveness in preventing overdose deaths.

Michigan recorded 2,847 opioid-related overdose deaths in 2024, a 12 percent decline from 2023 and the third consecutive year of decreasing mortality after a peak in 2021. Public health officials cautioned that the decline, while encouraging, remained fragile given the continued presence of fentanyl and increasingly prevalent xylazine in the illicit drug supply.

The settlement fund will provide distributions annually through 2038, with total Michigan receipts projected to reach approximately $1.7 billion over the full 18-year settlement period.