ATLANTA — Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr is highlighting progress in the state’s fight against opioid addiction as he prepares to leave office, hosting his final meeting of the opioid task force he established.

The task force brings together state agencies, local nonprofits, law enforcement and other advocates to coordinate efforts to address the opioid crisis across Georgia.

Carr says the group has helped secure more than $1 billion for the state.

“We’ve brought in over $1 billion into the state. $100 million has been deployed and that money is going to treatment, it’s going to save people’s lives,” Carr said.

According to Carr, one of the task force’s primary goals was to improve communication between organizations that were previously working separately to address opioid addiction.

“You’d have law enforcement or you’d have recovery, you’d have education, you had legislatives, and they weren’t talking with each other, so we created this task force to bring folks together,” Carr said.

Carr also credits the group’s collaborative efforts with helping reduce drug-related deaths in Georgia.

“You are seeing a difference in behaviors, you’re seeing fortunately a difference in the number of deaths that we have in our state and around the nation, but still too many, so we’ve got to keep at it,” Carr said.

As his time in office comes to an end, Carr says he hopes Georgia’s next attorney general will keep the task force in place to continue addressing opioid addiction and supporting those affected by the crisis.

WSB Radio’s Ashley Simmons & Jonathan O’Brien contributed to this story.