NJ towns wasted $2.3M of opioid settlement on lavish purchases: people are dying because of this

At least 25 New Jersey towns blew millions in opioid settlement money, reportedly spending the massive windfall on lavish purchases like an electric Mustang, custom monogrammed jackets and splashy concerts — instead of vital addiction services the funds were supposed to support.The Garden State, which has lost an estimated 30,000 to opioid deaths and left 150,000 addicted over the last decade, settled a groundbreaking national lawsuit in 2021 against Big Pharma — Purdue Pharma, Johnson & Johnson, CVS and 10 other painkiller manufacturers — that was initially praised by experts, addicts’ loved ones and cash-strapped nonprofits as a measure of restitution and pathway out of the crisis, NJ.com reported.But the $1.1 billion payout — set to be distributed through 2040 and half of which has funneled directly to towns and counties since 2022 — has largely been used on pricey wish lists instead of beefing up addiction services, drug prevention efforts and treatments across the battered state, an investigation by the outlet found, citing experts, advocates and some state officials. “This is blood money,” said former New Jersey assemblyman John Armato, who tragically lost his son Derek to a fatal overdose in 2020. “Hundreds of thousands of people are dying because of this,” Armato, 78, fumed to the publication.Among the most extravagant purchases was a $73,000 custom vinyl wrapped 2022 Mustang Mach-E for the Atlantic City Police Department; $600,000 for two awareness concerts in Irvington, and nearly $150,000 to a non-profit in Camden to identify broken street lamps.Atlantic City received over $2.3 million from the settlement and has since gone on a shopping spree — splashing the cash on 30 monogrammed jackets and around $140,000 on clothing, backpacks, consulting services and a city homeless workforce program.Meanwhile, Irvington “wasted” over $600,000 on two opioid awareness concerts in 2023 and 2024, according to a blistering July 2025 repor...