Gov. John Kasich delivered his first major policy speech since the launch of his campaign for the Republican nomination for president this week, and a lot of it sounded familiar to Ohioans who’ve heard him speak about growing the economy, cutting taxes for job creators and streamlining regulations. The controversial Youngstown schools takeover law has gone into effect. And a federal judge has ruled against the Libertarian Party of Ohio and permanently blocked a state law that required petition circulators to be state residents and other limits to ballot access by minor parties.
For years, Ohioans have heard about how this state is in the throes of an opiate crisis. And one journalist went to the heart of it with his book “Dreamland: The True Tale of America’s Opiate Epidemic”. Sam Quinones found the focus of that national heroin epidemic was Ohio – in the pill mills in Portsmouth, on Route 23 from Kentucky through to Michigan, and in the streets and suburbs of Columbus. And as the numbers of drug-related deaths in Ohio continue to rise, Quinones talks about what he's learned about the opiate epidemic and what can be done about it.