Mississippi has received tens of millions of dollars in lawsuit settlement money each year since 2022 from corporations that contributed to the opioid overdose epidemic, a public health crisis that’s killed roughly 10,000 people in the state since 1999.

But a Mississippi Today investigation found that in the three years of receiving the funds, public officials across the state reported spending less than $1 million – or less than 1% of the money received so far – on direct measures to prevent more drug deaths.

The attorney general’s office split the money – expected to total around $421 million through 2040 – between Mississippi’s state and local governments. Attorney General Lynn Fitch’s office and the Legislature oversee most of Mississippi’s opioid settlement dollars, but they’ve only

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