Dozens of New Jersey municipalities are under scrutiny for allegedly diverting millions of dollars from opioid settlement funds toward extravagant purchases rather than addiction treatment and prevention services. An investigation found that at least 25 towns have spent approximately $2.3 million on items such as a custom electric Mustang, custom jackets, and concerts, contradicting the intended purpose of the settlement money.
New Jersey has been significantly impacted by the opioid crisis, with an estimated 30,000 residents dying from overdoses and 150,000 developing opioid use disorder over the past decade. The state secured a $1.1 billion settlement in 2021 with pharmaceutical companies including Purdue Pharma, Johnson & Johnson, and CVS. Half of this payout, intended to be distributed through 2040, has been funneled to towns and counties since 2022.
Critics, including former New Jersey assemblyman John Armato, whose son died of an overdose, have voiced strong condemnation. "This is blood money," Armato stated, emphasizing the lives lost to the crisis. "Hundreds of thousands of people are dying because of this."
Among the most criticized expenditures is the Atlantic City Police Department's acquisition of a $73,000 custom vinyl-wrapped 2022 Mustang Mach-E. The town reportedly spent over $2.3 million in total from the settlement, including approximately $140,000 on clothing, backpacks, consulting services, and a homeless workforce program, in addition to 30 monogrammed jackets.
Irvington reportedly spent over $600,000 on two opioid awareness concerts in 2023 and 2024. A state comptroller's report noted that promotional materials from these events did not include information about treatment or opioid abuse prevention. Camden allocated nearly $150,000 to a non-profit for identifying broken street lamps, a measure the city claimed was intended to deter drug trade and open drug use.
Manchester Township spent $57,000 on a new car for a school resource officer, ostensibly to address drug addiction issues within the school system. Lindenwold, which received $166,000, had plans to construct a trailer for children's video game activities.
These alleged misuses of funds have been attributed to vague settlement language and ambiguous guidelines, which may violate a 2022 state attorney general's memorandum and a 2023 state Opioid Law. Sandy Gibson, an addiction researcher, expressed concern over the lack of oversight, stating, "That's sort of everything that's wrong with there being no oversight with this."
Conversely, some municipalities have been criticized for their inaction. More than $53 million has remained unspent in municipal accounts for up to three years. Summit, for example, had nearly $1 million in reserve as of June 2025, with Mayor Elizabeth Fagan citing a need for "due diligence" in managing the funds. Aberdeen Township also reported no spending despite receiving nearly $130,000 since 2022.
Gibson criticized this approach, noting that unspent funds indicate a lack of priority for addressing the opioid crisis. State Assemblyman Cody Miller has announced plans to draft legislation aimed at increasing oversight and transparency in the use of these settlement funds, stating that the ambiguity in the settlement information has led to misinterpretations and misuse.