In April, we launched the OPI Opioid Settlement Wiki. Building it took +150 hours of research, +20 hours of initial setup, +100 citations, and the costs to host this website. Like all of our work, we did this without grant funding.
So why do it?
Because we identified a gap and felt that we were well-positioned to address it through our technical and subject matter expertise. We hope this wiki helps more people plug into the effort to understand and steer opioid settlement money.
What gap are we filling?
People reach out to us regularly for help making sense of opioid settlement stuff. Some things we handle in-house, but we often rely on the work of others. When we link externally, that resource has to actually work. Outdated information and broken links are an issue for the person we gave that info to, but it's also a credibility issue for us. It turns people away from this effort, and there are already many subtle (and some not so subtle) ways that people are kept out of these conversations.
Existing resources, including the main “comparable” one, have fallen out of date (last revised in 2024). After repeated requests to get information updated were dismissed and ignored, we decided to build something better: a crowdsourced opioid settlement wiki.
Why a wiki?
To make sure this information remains open and accurate, we decided to use the “wiki” formats (most famously this is the tech behind Wikipedia).
Wikis are by nature open to external contributions, which is perfect for a topic this fluid. The opioid settlement topic is not static. New settlements happen. Government responses shift (or just their website URLs). The minute something is published, it risks going out of date, except when it is a wiki that anyone can edit.
Traditional static websites can't keep up with this information ecosystem. Wikis distribute that responsibility to the crowd, people who are often closer to the truth anyway. A community member in Pennsylvania or Wyoming knows what's happening in their state better than any national effort can. Importantly, a wiki also gives them a place to contribute as the expert.
Wikis also have built-in accountability: moderators, approval criteria, and a design that pushes toward accuracy over time.
Now if you find a dead link or outdated info on our wiki, you can update it or tell us to, and we'll handle it. Combined with our plan for reviews, this will always be the most current source for this information.
Inclusive language is a principle, not a style choice.
We aim for a 5th-grade reading level across everything we publish, including the wiki. The wiki also includes this information in Spanish, much of it for the first time. That takes significant effort, but it matters. Opioid settlement information written in dense legalese or just English isn't an accident. It's a way to keep people out of conversations about their communities. OPI rejects that model and works to create more open and inclusive conversations about opioid settlement money.
What's in the OPI Opioid Settlement Wiki?
The OPI Opioid Settlement Wiki is a publicly readable and editable state-by-state reference covering how opioid settlement funds are structured, planned, spent, evaluated, overseen, and enforced across the country.
To build the initial wiki, we spent +150 hours reviewing state websites. We also reviewed existing resources from non-state third-parties and pulled in OPI's original research into waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement (WFAM) reporting processes, unallowable opioid settlement spending, and collaborations with Reporting on Addiction to create a resource that we feel speaks across audiences. Combined, this research contributed to the +200 citations to outside websites.
This information is available in English and Spanish.
Get involved
Sign up to be a moderator or visit the wiki to learn more!
Find your state and see how settlement funds are being managed. Does something need to be updated? Sign up and suggest an edit. It's your resource.
Why Trust Us?
Jonathan Stoltman, PhD
Jonathan has worked as a researcher and advocate focusing on opioid addiction treatment and recovery since 2013. He completed his PhD in Lifespan Developmental Psychology from West Virginia University in 2019. Jonathan’s academic work has appeared in leading journals, conferences, and media outlets. He has been working on opioid settlement-related topics since 2020.
Why You Can Trust OPI
The Opioid Policy Institute exists to help communities improve their response to opioid-related death and disease. We provide evidence-based research and analysis that translates complex legal guidance and public health research into practical, usable insights. Our focus is on transparency, accountability, and community healing by increasing access to evidence-based prevention, harm reduction, treatment, and recovery supports.
OPI’s analysis reflects a collaborative, team-based approach. We blend real-world and academic experience to help ensure our work is methodologically sound, grounded in evidence, and attentive to real-world implementation challenges. We focus on asking the right questions, surfacing tradeoffs, and helping communities build robust responses to addiction.
Opioid Policy Institute by Jonathan JK Stoltman, PhD is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
