Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Democratic Gubernatorial Candidates Outline Positions On Drugs

Ohio Public Radio

As the May primary draws closer, the four Democratic gubernatorial candidate are talking about their ideas for tackling the opioid crisis. Ohio Public Radio’s Jo Ingles reports. 

If you ask state Senator Joe Schiavoni about how to stem the rising tide of opioid deaths in Ohio, he’ll tell you he’s been pushing a proposal to deal with that.

I’ve had a bill out for a little under a year. It’s actually been proposed in the senate to allocate 10% of the rainy day fund to deal with education for kids, making sure that police have the tools to do their job and rehabilitation and reconnecting families on the back end of the addiction. And so it’s a $200 million over two years in order to reach all of those goals.”

Schiavoni says he thinks local communities need to be empowered to help with the problem on the front lines.  

If we are getting people to rehabilitation, after 30 days if they are coming out and there’s no wrap around service for them, there’s no way for them to sustain their sobriety and they are really, really struggling so it’s about giving those locals the tools necessary to deal with it.”

That’s a point on which former Ohio Attorney General and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Chief Richard Cordray agrees. 

State government can be much more effective if it partners with local governments, listens to local governments, gets them the resources they need and make sure the state government is pulling its weight on this problem just as much as local governments that have been largely on their own.”  

Cordray unveiled his plan alongside Columbus city officials, noting the state has cut money for local governments in recent years. And he says that’s a problem because solution has to include everyone. 

This is an all hands on deck problem and it has to be law enforcement and the people who are experts in mental health and drug addiction and it has to be everybody in the community that is affected by this – all coming together to solve it.” 

Former Ohio Supreme Court Justice Bill O’Neill says the state needs to focus on helping opioid addicts get into treatment. He says that starts with dealing with the shortage of treatment beds.  

We have to reopen the statewide mental health network with regional hospitals. Otherwise we have to accept we are going to lose 5000 people a year….and more. It’s going up at the rate of 1000 a year, by the way.”

O’Neill says there’s another key ingredient – legalized marijuana.

If you legalize marijuana, the Colorado experiment has shown the use of heroin goes down 25%, the deaths from heroin goes down 25% and we generate $500 million in new sales taxes for marijuana sales.”  

That’s a point on which former Congressman and former Cleveland mayor Dennis Kucinich agrees.  

The state’s made a mess of the medical marijuana program that the people of Ohio intended for people to have options in pain management. I have talked to people who have used marijuana for their pain management and they have told me that they were able to get off opioids. We have to look at that.”

Kucinich says he has a comprehensive program for more treatment of all kinds, including holistic remedies. And he says the state needs to give Ohioans better and more affordable health care options in general. 

There’s a lot of money being spent in health care but when it’s for profit, a big chunk of that money is going for corporate profits, stock options, executive salaries, advertising, marketing, the cost of paperwork. I’m about to roll out the particulars of a health care plan that will address comprehensive health but it also involves involving individuals in their own care.”

Kucinich, who pushed a “Medicare-for-all” plan when he was in Congress, isn’t giving details of his plan yet. 

A new report from the Centers for Disease Control says opioid overdoses soared nearly 30 percent last year, killing an estimated 14 Ohioans a day. And while any solution to the crisis is expensive, a report from Ohio State says the crisis is costing Ohio nearly $9 billion a year.

 

 

The Statehouse News Bureau was founded in 1980 to provide educational, comprehensive coverage of legislation, elections, issues and other activities surrounding the Statehouse to Ohio's public radio and television stations. To this day, the Bureau remains the only broadcast outlet dedicated to in-depth coverage of state government news and topics of statewide interest. The Bureau is funded througheTech Ohio, and is managed by ideastream. The reporters at the Bureau follow the concerns of the citizens and voters of Ohio, as well as the actions of the Governor, the Ohio General Assembly, the Ohio Supreme Court, and other elected officials. We strive to cover statehouse news, government issues, Ohio politics, and concerns of business, culture and the arts with balance and fairness, and work to present diverse voices and points of view from the Statehouse and throughout Ohio. The three award-winning journalists at the bureau have more than 60 combined years of radio and television experience. They can be heard on National Public Radio and are regular contributors to Morning Edition, All Things Considered and Marketplace. Every weekday, the Statehouse News Bureau produces in-depth news reports forOhio's public radio stations. Those stories are also available on this website, either on the front page or in our archives. Weekly, the Statehouse News Bureau produces a television show from our studios in the Statehouse. The State of Ohio is an unique blend of news, interviews, talk and analysis, and is broadcast on Ohio's public television stations. The Statehouse News Bureau also produces special programming throughout the year, including the Governor's annual State of the State address to the Ohio General Assembly and a five-part year-end review.
Related Content