An officer with the Monroe County Correctional Facility questioned the Monroe County commissioners during their meeting on Wednesday about a payment for a participant in the Law Enforcement Treatment Initiative.

MCCF Officer Don Kubik asked about a payment of $1,300 to Warrior Creekside Park to cover the July rent and security for a Law Enforcement Treatment Initiative participant. He wanted to know if any of that money was coming from tax dollars or from grants.

Warrior Creek Park is an apartment building in Stroudsburg.

Commissioner Chairman John Christy said, “It is coming from the opioid monies.”

Opioid monies refers to funds the state is receiving following the settlement of nationwide opioid-related lawsuits against drug manufacturers and pharmacies. The state created the Pennsylvania Opioid Misuse and Addiction Abatement Trust to manage the funds.

According to the trust’s website, the state expects to receive approximately $1.07 billion each year for 18 years from a settlement in 2021 against McKesson, Cardinal Health, Amerisource Bergen, and Janssen Pharmaceuticals Inc. and its parent company Johnson & Johnson.

Another $7 million was awarded to the state from a lawsuit against Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals.