Birmingham City Council allocates $200,000 from opioid funds to drug harassment program

The Birmingham City Council voted Tuesday to allocate more than $200,000 from settlements in opioid cases to enforce civil penalties and nuisance abatement measures in homes involved in drug activity.

City staff told the council that the $256,379 came from one of three settlements with pharmaceutical companies that helped spread opioid abuse. The council voted in March 2023 to enter into a settlement agreement to resolve state and local class action lawsuits against those companies.

The city council voted Tuesday to send the money to the district attorney's office. According to District Attorney Nicole King, the money will be used to pay for training, lawyers and staff for the city's new drug enforcement program.

Mayor Randall Woodfin announced the program in July. Birmingham authorities will work to ensure that owners of properties where criminal activity occurs face civil penalties, which could include fines of up to $50,000 or designation of the property as a nuisance.

The drug abuse project is a response to Birmingham's rising murder rates. As investigators tackle a culture of silence in many parts of the city, the mayor says the new program will help put pressure on offenders.

“We need to increase the pressure on everyone. Everyone gets attention,” Woodfin said in July.

During Tuesday's meeting, council members agreed that the mitigation program was a wise use of the settlement funds, but Council Member Carol Clarke asked when members would be able to see the agreement signed by the mayor so they could get an idea of ​​what all the funds are being used for.

“We have no idea what the overall strategy is, so this is just worrying,” she said.

The mayor's staff told Clarke that the council would receive a detailed memorandum at its next closed meeting, which had not been scheduled as of Tuesday. Such closed meetings are not typically open to the public, with officials claiming they are permitted under the Alabama Open Meetings Act because they fall under the umbrella of training or briefings.

Alabama alone has reached settlements totaling more than $728 million with healthcare and pharmaceutical companies, according to an online post by law firm Beasley Allen.

In 2021, there were 1,408 drug overdose deaths in Alabama, 981 of which were opioid-related. That's an increase from 1,029 and 611, respectively, the previous year, according to a 2023 report from the Alabama Opioid Overdose and Addiction Council.

In Jefferson County, the number of opioid deaths has increased since 2018, when 172 people died from illegal or prescription opioids, according to an annual report from the Jefferson County Coroner. In 2023, that number was 411.