Ohio Democrats State Logo

Ohio Democratic

County Chairs Association

Ohio Democrats Party ODP Logo

Main Navigation

MENUMENU
  • Home
  • Who We Are
    • WHY We Are Democrats!
    • County Chairs
      • ODCCA Officers – 2019-2023
        • Message from President Janet Carson
        • ODCCA Executive Committee, Regional Liaisons & Committees
        • County Chairs of the Year – 2020
        • ODCCA Constitution and Bylaws
        • How Ohio’s 88 counties got their names
    • Ohio Democratic Party (ODP)
      • History: Ohio Democratic Party
    • Democratic National Committee
      • DNC Officers
      • Ohio DNC Members
  • Team
    • President Joe Biden & Vice President Kamala Harris
      • Nominees and Appointees
      • The American Rescue Act of 2021
      • American Jobs Plan – 2nd Phase of ‘Build Back Better’ agenda
      • American Families Plan – 3rd Phase of ‘Build Back Better’ Agenda
      • Speeches by President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris
    • Senator Sherrod Brown
    • U.S. House of Representatives
      • Congressman Greg Landsman – Ohio’s 1st District
      • Congresswoman Joyce Beatty – Ohio’s 3rd District
      • Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur – Ohio’s 9th District
      • Congresswoman Shontel Brown – Ohio’s 11th District
      • Congresswoman Emilia Sykes – Ohio’s 13th District
    • Justices of the Ohio Supreme Court
      • Ohio Supreme Court Justice Michael P. Donnelly
      • Ohio Supreme Court Justice Melody J. Stewart
      • Ohio Supreme Court Justice Jennifer Brunner
    • State Senate Minority Leadership – 135th General Assembly
    • State House Minority Leadership – 135th General Assembly
    • Former President Barack Obama
  • Candidates
    • Interested in being a candidate?
      • Candidate Information: Guides, Forms, Links
      • LEAD Ohio & Main Street Initiative Trainings Announced: Run for Office 2023
  • News
  • Issues
  • Action Items
  • Events
    • Are you ready to vote in 2023?
    • ODCCA
      • ODCCA & ODP County Chairs Monthly Zoom Meetings
      • ODCCA Meetings & ODP Co-Hosted Events
    • Local County Parties
    • ODP
      • County Chairs Monthly Zoom Meetings
    • DNC
  • Contact Us
  • Links
  • Members Only

Ohio’s Heroin Epidemic Needs Action, Not Campaign Pep Talks

May 21, 2014

After massive Republican funding cuts, heroin epidemic spiraled out of control

Despite a record of massive budget cuts and failure to acknowledge the crisis until well after it began, today Governor John Kasich and Attorney General Mike DeWine will hold a town hall in Columbus regarding the heroin epidemic in Ohio.  In response to today’s press event, Ohio Democratic Party Chairman Chris Redfern released the following statement:

“Talk from politicians in an election year is cheap, especially given the record of disastrous budget cuts and neglect by Governor Kasich and Attorney General DeWine that allowed this epidemic to spiral out of control.  Leadership requires more than empty promises.  Ohio needs real action, not pep talks, to deal with this crisis.”

BACKGROUND

Heroin Overdose Deaths Are Spiraling Out of Control Across the State:

“Overdose deaths related to heroin increased 59.6 percent between 2011 and 2012 [Mansfield News Journal, 4/18/2014].  It is estimated that over 900 Ohioans died of heroin overdoses in 2013.

Heroin Crisis Was Foreseeable, Health Department Officials Say: “‘As strict legislation closed pill mills and prescription drugs became less available, Ohio was left with an opioid-addicted population in search of a drug,’ [Christy Beeghly, violence and injury prevention program administrator at the Ohio Department of Health] said. ‘We’ve sort of primed the pump of bringing heroin in,’ she said.” [Mansfield News Journal, 4/18/2014]

Lack of Treatment Is “A Statewide Embarrassment,” State Officials Have Only Given a “Pep Talk”: The Plain Dealer has called the lack of treatment capacity a “statewide embarrassment.” [Plain Dealer, 2/18/14]. The Coshocton Tribune said that with few resources from the state, it is “disparaging when an elected official travels around the state giving what amounts to nothing more than a pep talk.” [Coshocton Tribune, 2/1/2014]

Fitzgerald’s county heroin program called a “national model” by U.S. Attorney.  Steven M. Dettlebach, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District Ohio praised the efforts of Cuyahoga County to tackle the heroin epidemic in Cuyahoga County as a protocol that “needs to be a national model.”  [Source: Cuyahoga County Government Press Conference (4/22/2014)]

Gov. Kasich:

  • Cut Funding for Social Workers, Mental Health Programs, and Other Human Services Over 50 percent Across the State on Average in first state budget. “Deep cuts have been made to all local governments and to special districts. Health and human service levies were hit especially hard, losing 54 percent of state aid, on average.” [Policy Matters Ohio, 9/13/2012]
  • Cuts to Local Government Fund Took Cops Off the Street. “Kasich insists that the state’s rainy day fund should be replenished with new budget surpluses, despite the fact that schools and communities across Ohio are still suffering from state budget cuts, which resulted in “cutbacks in essential local services, hikes in local property taxes, and layoffs of teachers, police officers, and firefighters.”  [Toledo Blade, 4/29/2012]
  • Kasich Eliminated Separate Departments Of Mental-Health And Substance-Abuse, and Combined Into One Agency. “Two state departments serving Ohioans with mental-health and substance-abuse problems will be merged into a single, more-efficient agency with ‘less bureaucratic clutter,’ the Kasich administration announced yesterday. The Ohio Department of Mental Health and the Department of Alcohol and Drug Addiction Services will be combined effective July 1, 2013, pending legislative approval.” [The Columbus Dispatch, 5/5/12]

Attorney General DeWine:

  • Failed for Three Years to Acknowledge Growing Crisis.  According to the Ohio Attorney General’s Office, DeWine did not begin tabulating data on heroin deaths until Oct. 2013, years after the crisis began and states like Kentucky began responding. [Attorney General Statement, 11/18/13]
  • Refused to tell Ohio What He Has Actually Accomplished. DeWine formed a $1 million dollar “heroin unit,” but “would not say what this new unit…has accomplished since its inception in November.” [Coschocton Tribune 2/1/14]
  • Failed to Stand Up for First Responders. DeWine did not speak out against Gov. Kasich’s massive local budget cuts for police and other first responders. This is despite his position as Ohio’s chief legal officer.

As our next governor, Ed FitzGerald will:

  • Restore funding to local governments so law enforcement and social services have the resources necessary to combat this crisis.
  • Expand on his leadership in the County level, where his initiative for tracking down drug dealers was hailed as a model for the nation by the US Attorney and his expansion of the naloxone program led to the reversal of 31 possible overdoses.

As our next Attorney General, David Pepper will:

  • Expand access to life-saving anti-overdose medications to first responders statewide.
  • Assist local prosecutors in tracing overdose deaths back to dealers so they can be held fully responsible for the death.
  • Expand evidenced-based prevention and treatment efforts to drive down demand for heroin.

Blog Sidebar

Search the Site

Categories

  • Candidates
  • Events
    • DNC
    • Local County Parties
    • ODCCA
    • ODP
  • Issues
    • Federal
    • State
  • News
  • Photo Galleries
  • Uncategorized

Recent Posts

  • ‘The Right to Reproductive Freedom with Protections for Health and Safety’ language approved by Ballot Board March 13, 2023
  • Householder and Borges found GUILTY in racketeering conspiracy case; GOP silent; Ohio is victim March 12, 2023
  • Editorial: Joe Deters was a ‘Mistaken Choice’ for Ohio Supreme Court March 9, 2023
  • “Right to Reproductive Freedom with Protections for Health and Safety” language to be submitted to Ohio AG February 21, 2023
  • DNC moves 2024 presidential primary calendar February 4, 2023

Contribute to ODCCA

Donate Now

Your contributions
DO make a difference!

When you contribute,
you make a difference in Ohio!
Thank You!

Donate Now

Recent News

  • ‘The Right to Reproductive Freedom with Protections for Health and Safety’ language approved by Ballot Board
  • Householder and Borges found GUILTY in racketeering conspiracy case; GOP silent; Ohio is victim
  • Editorial: Joe Deters was a ‘Mistaken Choice’ for Ohio Supreme Court
  • “Right to Reproductive Freedom with Protections for Health and Safety” language to be submitted to Ohio AG
  • DNC moves 2024 presidential primary calendar
  • GOP continues to live up to being the Party of NO
  • Big Ohio redistricting changes before 2024? Don’t count on it, experts say
  •  
  • View all news

Current Issues

  • SCOTUS: Important cases to be decided in 2022-2023 session
  • State Issue 1 – What is it? Why is it on the November 8th ballot?
  • State Issue 2 – What is it? Why is it on the November 8th ballot?
  • Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 = Historic Legislation
  • SFC Heath Robinson PACT Act
  • Redistricting: Ohio 2021 – What * Why * Who * Where * When
  • What issues may be on the ballot? Who determines what issue is on ballot?
  •  
  • View all issues

Pages

MENUMENU
  • Home
  • Who We Are
    • WHY We Are Democrats!
    • County Chairs
      • ODCCA Officers – 2019-2023
        • Message from President Janet Carson
        • ODCCA Executive Committee, Regional Liaisons & Committees
        • County Chairs of the Year – 2020
        • ODCCA Constitution and Bylaws
        • How Ohio’s 88 counties got their names
    • Ohio Democratic Party (ODP)
      • History: Ohio Democratic Party
    • Democratic National Committee
      • DNC Officers
      • Ohio DNC Members
  • Team
    • President Joe Biden & Vice President Kamala Harris
      • Nominees and Appointees
      • The American Rescue Act of 2021
      • American Jobs Plan – 2nd Phase of ‘Build Back Better’ agenda
      • American Families Plan – 3rd Phase of ‘Build Back Better’ Agenda
      • Speeches by President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris
    • Senator Sherrod Brown
    • U.S. House of Representatives
      • Congressman Greg Landsman – Ohio’s 1st District
      • Congresswoman Joyce Beatty – Ohio’s 3rd District
      • Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur – Ohio’s 9th District
      • Congresswoman Shontel Brown – Ohio’s 11th District
      • Congresswoman Emilia Sykes – Ohio’s 13th District
    • Justices of the Ohio Supreme Court
      • Ohio Supreme Court Justice Michael P. Donnelly
      • Ohio Supreme Court Justice Melody J. Stewart
      • Ohio Supreme Court Justice Jennifer Brunner
    • State Senate Minority Leadership – 135th General Assembly
    • State House Minority Leadership – 135th General Assembly
    • Former President Barack Obama
  • Candidates
    • Interested in being a candidate?
      • Candidate Information: Guides, Forms, Links
      • LEAD Ohio & Main Street Initiative Trainings Announced: Run for Office 2023
  • News
  • Issues
  • Action Items
  • Events
    • Are you ready to vote in 2023?
    • ODCCA
      • ODCCA & ODP County Chairs Monthly Zoom Meetings
      • ODCCA Meetings & ODP Co-Hosted Events
    • Local County Parties
    • ODP
      • County Chairs Monthly Zoom Meetings
    • DNC
  • Contact Us
  • Links
  • Members Only
Donate Now

© 2014 Ohio Democratic County Chairs Association, All Rights Reserved

Paid for and authorized by the Ohio Democratic County Chairs Association, Amy F. Grubbe/Treasurer, 2810 Hull Road #6, Huron 44839.

Not authorized by any Federal, state or county candidate or campaign committee.