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Kasich Says Deaths from Prescription Opioids Are Declining

JO INGLES
/
STATEHOUSE NEWS BUREAU
Gov. John Kasich surrounded by law enforcement officers in Dublin, Ohio

Governor John Kasich says the state’s crackdown on prescription opioids is making headway in the fight against drug deaths but he says there’s more that needs to be done.  

Kasich says when new figures on opioid deaths in Ohio come out next week, there will be some good news. He says the state has hit an eight year low in the number of deaths due to prescription drugs.

“We are making gains. Everything is not dark and terrible.”

Kasich credits new rules that limit the amount of opioids doctors can prescribe. But he says the problem now is illegal street drugs that are often laced with deadly fentanyl. Kasich says it’s important that states and governments work together to stop the flow of drugs from one state or country to another, and he has been discussing that with law enforcement leaders.”

Jo Ingles is a professional journalist who covers politics and Ohio government for the Ohio Public Radio and Television for the Ohio Public Radio and Television Statehouse News Bureau. She reports on issues of importance to Ohioans including education, legislation, politics, and life and death issues such as capital punishment. Jo started her career in Louisville, Kentucky in the mid 80’s when she helped produce a televised presidential debate for ABC News, worked for a creative services company and served as a general assignment report for a commercial radio station. In 1989, she returned back to her native Ohio to work at the WOSU Stations in Columbus where she began a long resume in public radio.