10-13B-1. Legislative findings.

The General Assembly finds that:

There is an opioid epidemic occurring in the United States, and the State of Georgia has been greatly impacted;#

State-wide coordination surrounding and managing opioid addiction and related disorders is critical to the health and safety of all Georgians;#

Funding is needed in the state for, among other things, prevention and treatment of opioid addiction and related disorders; providing resources to law enforcement agencies to address the opioid crisis; increasing the number of professionals who provide treatment for opioid addiction; educating medical professionals regarding the safe and effective prescribing of, and then tapering off of, opioids; and treatment and prevention of opioid use disorder in incarcerated populations;#

It is imperative that the state receive the full amount of any opioid settlement, and in order to do so, the state must be able to release claims for all state and local public bodies and instrumentalities in the state; and#

While local governments generally have the authority to pursue and litigate claims against businesses and individuals to protect their own interests, in certain limited circumstances involving particular industries, the interests of the state as a whole are best served by having a unified settlement structure that benefits both the state and its local governments and brings full and complete closure to the claims that were asserted or could have been asserted and maximizes the state and local governments’ potential recovery to address this extraordinary crisis.#