A new council would oversee any proceeds from opioid litigation under a bill intended to track more than $156 million anticipated from legal claims against opioid manufacturers and distributors.

House Bill 2806, introduced by state Rep. Della Au Belatti (D, Makiki- Punchbowl) with support from state Rep. Adrian Tam (D, Waikiki), would create a Hawaii opioid litigation proceeds council to oversee the expenditure of all opioid litigation proceeds.

Belatti and Tam were joined Thursday by community members at a news conference where they discussed four substance abuse prevention bills introduced this legislative session.

Belatti said the state has received over $19 million in litigation proceeds from legal claims made against prescription opioid manufacturers and distributors, and the state Department of the Attorney General expects more than $156 million in the recovery of litigation proceeds.

“We want to promote public trust, input and transparency to know that the funds that we receive from these historic national settlements will go to people and programs that need them,” Belatti said.

Tam has introduced three bills to “deal with the issues that have plagued our communities, not just here, but across the nation.”

HB 1667 would suspend or deny professional and vocational licenses to people who have been found to be involved with illegal fentanyl dealings through their business.

HB 1669 would limit the ownership, sale and possession of encapsulation, or tableting, machines to only licensed professionals like pharmacists, physicians, podiatrists or veterinarians.

“This is a bill that has been passed through the Washington state legislature and signed into law by Gov. Jay Inslee,” Tam said. “We are kindly implementing the same thing here in Hawaii to help with our crisis.”

HB 2253 would require bars, restaurants and hotels across the state to carry naloxone, while also authorizing law enforcement officers to administer naloxone during an opioid-related drug overdose case.

Restaurants and bars on Oahu are already required to carry naloxone.

Tam hopes to implement this enforcement statewide after seeing the “success that we have at the city level.”

“Dealing with fentanyl and substance abuse crisis is going to take all the government approaches, all four counties, the state and federal partners,” said City Council member Tyler Dos Santos-Tam.

In 2023, Dos Santos-Tam’s Bill 28 was passed, now requiring every on-premise liquor licensee to have narcan spray on hand.

“A few weeks ago at the Zippy’s here on Vineyard, one of the managers used narcan to save the life of somebody,” he said.

Heather Lusk, executive director at the Hawaii Health &Harm Reduction Center, and Kevin Kunz, co-lead of the Hawaii Island Fentanyl Task Force, joined the news conference.

Lusk said she’s grateful that people are coming together to turn the tide on not only the opioid overdose crisis, but also on substance use disorders as a whole.

“Twenty-eight years ago was the last time I stuck a needle in my arm,” Lusk said.

“I have heard way too many stories of individuals who have lost loved ones to fentanyl and substance abuse,” Tam said.

“It’s time we stop treating those who are suffering from substance abuse like criminals and start treating them like victims to get them the help they need so they can heal,” he added. “At the same time we need to make it harder for those who monetize their suffering. “