WILKES-BARRE, Pa. -- Governor Tom Wolf has declared it a crisis, and now comes news that more money is on the way.
$75 million is coming from the federal government to battle the opioid epidemic. That money will be used to treat, prevent, and educate others about the dangers of drugs.
"That's a good thing for Pennsylvania. There's a lot of drug addiction here," said Terence Jackson of Reading.
So many have personal stories about opioid addiction.
Richard Berlanda has battled it. He is without a home now and lost his brother to an overdose.
"He started doing fentanyl, went back to heroin. His third wife left him, and he died, my own brother. I have a tear in my eye thinking about it," said Berlanda.
The $75 million is meant to be used in part to attract treatment professionals by helping repay their education loans and to help those in treatment find housing.
"I think that's great, thank God. Maybe I can get an apartment out of it," said Berlanda.
State leaders say so far, the federal government has given them more than $141 million over the past two years.
"I've had a nephew and a niece both lose their lives from the opioid epidemic, and it's plagued my family now for decades. I'm in recovery myself, OK? I'm in the program which helps a lot. I go for counseling, and these extra funds that they're giving has helped a lot," said Dino Bellitto of Plymouth.
According to state data in 2018, 4,400 Pennsylvanians died from drug overdoses.
That number is actually down from 2017, and with this additional funding, the governor is hopeful that number will continue to drop.