Substance Use Disorder

Substance and opioid use disorder hurts individuals, destroys families, and harms communities. In addition to the emotional and social impact, substance use disorder has a tremendous financial impact as well. A study from the Department of Health showed that excessive drinking alone cost Minnesotans $7.85 billion in 2019, through lost productivity, health care costs, and other costs such as those related to criminal justice and motor vehicle crashes. The total financial cost equals $1,383 per Minnesota resident.

Drug overdose deaths in particular have a tragically high cost, reverberating throughout a community and impacting the wellbeing of friends, family, and neighbors. The emergence of fentanyl, a synthetic opioid 50 times more powerful than heroin has driven a nationwide overdose crisis that claimed the lives of over 100,000 Americans in 2022. In Minnesota opioid-involved overdose deaths increased 43% from 2020 to 2022, and the number of deaths has more than doubled since 2019. Native American Minnesotans are dying at over nine times the rate as white Minnesotans, and Black Minnesotans at over three times the rate. 1 in 5 overdose deaths since 2015 happened to individuals released from a correctional facility within the last year. 

Medicines for opioid use disorder (MOUD) are proven therapies to help treat opioid use disorder. They also reduce recidivism, the spread of disease, criminal justice involvement, as well as increase the likelihood an individual remains in treatment and maintains employment. Despite the success of MOUDs in treating opioid use disorder, a 2021 study from Minnesota Management and Budget found that less than half of all jails in Minnesota provide access to the medicines for those incarcerated. 

Goal: Reduce the impact of the opioid crisis on Minnesotans, their families, and their communities.

Measurable goal for 2027: Reduce opioid deaths. Target in development