{"id":80279,"date":"2016-09-27T07:52:45","date_gmt":"2016-09-27T12:52:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/?p=80279"},"modified":"2016-09-28T08:07:03","modified_gmt":"2016-09-28T13:07:03","slug":"ohio-attorney-general-discusses-states-opiate-epidemic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/2016\/09\/27\/ohio-attorney-general-discusses-states-opiate-epidemic\/","title":{"rendered":"DeWine discusses state’s opiate epidemic"},"content":{"rendered":"

DAVE MOSIER\/<\/strong>independent editor<\/em><\/p>\n

Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine was in Van Wert on Monday and drugs were on his mind — chiefly the state\u2019s opiate epidemic.<\/p>\n

\"miker-dewine-9-26-16\"
Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine talks about the state’s heroin epidemic during a luncheon hosted by local Republicans on Monday.<\/strong> Dave Mosier\/Van Wert independent<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

DeWine, who spoke Monday at a luncheon hosted by the Van Wert County Republican Party at Willow Bend Country Club, talked about how Ohio\u2019s drug problem has worsened from the late 1970s, when he was Greene County prosecutor, to today.<\/p>\n

The attorney general said that, unlike the 1970s, the state\u2019s drug problem is no longer centered in inner city areas.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s everywhere, it\u2019s in every county, it\u2019s in every community,\u201d DeWine noted, adding that residents of affluent suburbs are more likely to have a drug addiction that those in the inner city. He added that the cost of a drug habit, which can start at $15 a day, but then increase to as much as $1,500 a day or more, drives most of the other crime Ohio courts deal with.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo much of the crime we see is a direct result of people being either high when they commit the crime or having to feel that they have to feed that habit every single day, and breaking into someone\u2019s house,\u201d the Ohio attorney general explained.<\/p>\n

DeWine also addressed the death toll from heroin and opiate use, especially now that even more powerful drugs, such as fentanyl and carfentanil, a large-animal sedative, are being used to cut heroin.<\/p>\n

\u201cBased on last year\u2019s statistics, we\u2019re losing about eight people a day statewide who die of an overdose of drugs,\u201d said DeWine. \u201cNow imagine if we had a terrorist attack and it killed eight people a day in the state of Ohio. What would we be doing? We\u2019d be up in arms.\u201d<\/p>\n

DeWine, who said he has read journalist Sam Quinone\u2019s book, Heartland: The True Tale of America\u2019s Opiate Epidemic<\/em>, said he agreed with Quinone\u2019s assessment that today\u2019s heroin epidemic stems from overprescribing of pain medications over the last couple of decades, especially by \u201cpill mills\u201d in Ohio and elsewhere (see related story in News Page archives)<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Like Quinones, the attorney general said the business model used by Mexican drug dealers makes it difficult for law enforcement to curtail the flow of drugs. It\u2019s a situation that calls for an entire community\u2019s resources, he added.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re not going to arrest our way out of this problem,\u201d DeWine said, noting that his special Heroin Unit provides resources to local law enforcement agencies, while drug courts and community treatment options are also important in dealing with the opiate epidemic, with prevention and education crucial to any solution. That includes drug education in Ohio schools, from kindergarten through high school.<\/p>\n

In addition to talking about the drug problem, DeWine also addressed the upcoming presidential election, noting that he was, albeit, reluctantly voting for Donald Trump.<\/p>\n

\u201cDonald Trump was not my pick; I was a John Kasich delegate, but I\u2019m voting for Donald Trump,\u201d DeWine told the more than 150 attending the luncheon. The issue, for DeWine, is judicial.<\/p>\n

Noting that a two-term president will likely appoint up to four U.S. Supreme Court justices, as well as a large portion of other federal judges, DeWine said he feels Trump would appoint more conservative judges than Hillary Clinton would.<\/p>\n

\u201cNot only are we electing a president,\u201d the attorney general noted, \u201cwe\u2019re electing a Supreme Court.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

DAVE MOSIER\/independent editor Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine was in Van Wert on Monday and drugs were on his mind — chiefly the state\u2019s opiate epidemic. DeWine, who spoke Monday at a luncheon hosted by the Van Wert County Republican Party at Willow Bend Country Club, talked about how Ohio\u2019s drug problem has worsened from […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-80279","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-06 15:47:41","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80279","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=80279"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80279\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=80279"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=80279"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=80279"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}