2/3/2026

Morgan Miller, Education and Alumni Outreach Director, for “From the Academy” A Journal of Academic Renewal from the Martin Center

Extensive litigation over the nation’s opioid crisis came to a close in June 2025, when the attorneys general of forty-nine states approved a $7.4-billion settlement with Purdue Pharma and its owners, the Sackler family. According to Ohio attorney general Dave Yost, the state—along with many counties and cities—will receive up to $198 million from the settlement.

The epidemic has been especially devastating in rural America, where resources for public and mental health are already scarce. Having grown up in Ohio’s Appalachian region, I can’t help but see myself reflected in the staggering drug and suicide statistics. Anyone familiar with Southeast Ohio knows that the area is marked by the despair and nihilism that so often accompany drug abuse, poverty, and untreated mental-health challenges.

Campus Dispatch: The Liberal Arts in Oxy Country – Morgan Miller for “From the Academy”