Maryland Opens Town Halls on $687 Million in Opioid Settlement Funds

Maryland's Office of Overdose Response begins a series of five virtual regional town halls Tuesday evening, asking residents across the state how hundreds of millions of dollars in opioid settlement money should be spent over the coming years. The first session, for Central Maryland, runs from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. on August 4.

The state expects to receive more than $687 million over the next 15 years through nine settlements with prescription opioid manufacturers, distributors, and retail pharmacies — and roughly $90 million more once a settlement with Purdue Pharma is finalized. How that money moves from court orders to actual programs is, for the first time at this scale, a question state officials are putting directly to the public.

Five sessions, three nights, every region covered

The town hall schedule compresses all five regional meetings into a single week. After Tuesday's Central Maryland session — covering Baltimore City and Baltimore, Anne Arundel, Howard, Harford, and Carroll counties — the Capital Region (Montgomery, Prince George's, and Frederick counties) meets Wednesday at 5:30 p.m., followed by Southern Maryland (Calvert, Charles, and St. Mary's counties) at 7 p.m. the same evening. Western Maryland's session for Washington, Allegany, and Garrett counties is Thursday at 5:30 p.m., with the Eastern Shore closing out the series Thursday at 7 p.m. for Cecil, Kent, Queen Anne's, Talbot, Caroline, Dorchester, Wicomico, Somerset, and Worcester counties.

Registration is not required to attend, though anyone who wants to speak must complete a sign-up form on the Office of Overdose Response website. Each meeting is scheduled to run one hour.

Where the money has gone so far

Roughly 70 percent of the settlement funds flow to the counties, cities, and towns that joined Maryland's settlements. The state controls the remaining 30 percent, half of which must be distributed through competitive grants. As of fiscal year 2025, Maryland had received approximately $245.8 million, with $170 million of that already sent out to localities.

The meetings build on a transparency push the Moore-Miller administration began in May, when Lt. Governor Aruna Miller and the overdose response office launched a public dashboard tracking how settlement dollars are distributed and invested across the state. The dashboard lets residents look up spending plans for their own jurisdiction — the town halls now give them a channel to shape those plans.

"Maryland has already cut fatal overdoses in half since their 2021 peak, and that's because we've invested in services across the continuum of care that save lives," Miller said in a statement announcing the sessions. "These settlement dollars are a limited window to build something that outlasts the crisis that created it. We know that the settlement dollars make a real difference when they're transparent, evidence-based, and shaped by the communities living through this every day. That's why we're asking Marylanders directly: these town halls are how we make sure these investments serve the people who need it most."

Emily Keller, Maryland's special secretary of overdose response, framed the outreach as an acknowledgment that no statewide plan fits every jurisdiction. "The Moore-Miller Administration believes wholeheartedly that those closest to the problem are closest to the solution," Keller said. "Public input is essential for ensuring our overdose response efforts are as effective as possible. Every community has its own unique challenges, and we have to ensure that we consider those needs as we distribute settlement funds to help address the harms of the opioid and overdose crisis."

Baltimore weighs its own track record

The town halls arrive as Baltimore, the city hit hardest by the state's overdose crisis, takes stock of its own spending. City officials reported that overdose deaths fell 22 percent between 2024 and 2025, a decline they attribute to the public health response built partly on settlement dollars. The city recently selected 11 community organizations for grants from a pool of roughly 100 applicants and has been reviewing how that money is performing.

City Councilman James Torrence has used the moment to push for broader participation, calling for young people in particular to join the conversation about the Opioid Restitution Fund — arguing that the generation inheriting both the crisis and the settlement money should have a voice in how it is used.

The city's experience illustrates what the state hopes to replicate: funding decisions made closer to affected neighborhoods, whether for naloxone distribution, expanded access to opioid use disorder treatment, or recovery support services that keep people connected to care after an overdose.

A test for settlement accountability

Across the country, opioid settlement spending has drawn scrutiny as some jurisdictions routed money toward general budget gaps or projects with only tenuous connections to the crisis. Maryland's approach — a public dashboard followed by statewide public hearings — is among the more structured efforts to keep the funds tied to measurable outcomes like treatment capacity, overdose reversal access, and prevention programs.

Whether the town halls translate into different spending priorities will become visible in the next round of grant cycles and county plans. For residents, the immediate opportunity is simpler: three evenings this week in which the state is formally on the record asking what its communities need.