COLUMBUS – Governor John Kasich sees progress in the state’s anti-drug efforts, despite a new report that shows another record death toll from accidental overdoses.
Accidental drug overdoses killed a record 3,050 people in Ohio last year, with the synthetic opioid fentanyl causing an increasing number of those fatalities (right).
Speaking Thursday to a special regional judicial summit on opioids in Cincinnati involving officials from nine states, Kasich says he feels “terrible” about the deaths, but believes lives are being saved by steps taken, including increased monitoring of drug prescriptions and crackdowns on “pill mills.”
He wants continued expansion of anti-drug messages to young people, beginning in their early school years. He says the previous generation grew up accustomed to easy access to painkillers that have fueled overdose deaths.
He also urged interstate cooperation in anti-drug efforts.
The Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services lists several new tactics for battling the problem of drug overdoses in general, and the increasing use of fentanyl in particular.
They include increasing law enforcement efforts, stiffer penalties for trafficking fentanyl, increasing awareness among young people and making the anti-overdose drug naloxone more readily available.