In response to the disparities, which are particularly stark for American Indian and Black Minnesotans, officials are investing millions of dollars from the opioid settlement in culturally specific treatment programs.
Farhia Budul knows the devastating effect of opioid addiction. As a Somali woman in long-term recovery, she’s made it her mission to help others, especially in Minnesota’s East African and Muslim communities, overcome it as well.
“You can just see problems and people struggling with addiction in plain sight,” she said.
The opioid epidemic, fueled by a surge in fentanyl use, has shattered thousands of families across Minnesota. It has hit hardest among the state’s people of color, who die at disproportionately high rates when compared with white Minnesotans.
