In a year marred by death from an ongoing pandemic, 2020 also saw record overdose deaths.
The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced that 2020 saw a record year-over-year number of opioid overdose deaths.
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Ohio State Representative Richard D. Brown (D-Canal Winchester) called on the State Senate Thursday to pass House Bill 10 (HB 10). The legislation was passed unanimously in June, 2019 with the help of the bill’s co-sponsor Rep. Reggie Stoltzfus (R-Paris Twp.).
“The all-encompassing nature of the COVID-19 pandemic exemplifies exactly why we need a dedicated office to focus on drug addiction in our state. We cannot afford to take our eye off the ball even in the face of another crisis,” said Rep. Brown in a statement.
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The U.S. Justice Department’s Office of Justice Programs announced more than $333 million in awards Friday to help communities affected by the opioid crisis, including $6.1 million for public safety and health professionals in southern Ohio.
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The Department of Health and Human Services recently announced that it has awarded nearly $400 million nationwide to combat the opioid crisis, including $21 million to Ohio.
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The CBS weekly show 60 Minutes recently discovered a drug route leading into Ohio. The CBS team found that fentanyl plants in Shanghai have been trafficking their product through Akron. Guanghua Zheng, a free citizen of Shanghai, is a wanted man in America. Zheng illegally imported fentanyl and other…
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Alandre J. Gillbreath of Springfield, Ohio was sentenced to five years in prison Tuesday for possession with intent to distribute enough carfentanil to kill 700 people. According to the United States Attorney’s Office of the Southern District of Ohio, Gillbreath was arrested in May 2017 when police officers responded to…
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Gov.-elect Mike DeWine (R-OH) announced key leaders of his Inaugural Committee and staff this week who will oversee a week-long celebration of “faith, family, and friends” after the Ohio’s next governor is sworn in. According to a Thursday press release, Suzanne and Michael Kiggin were named chairs of the committee…
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A Chinese businessman who had been living in the Boston area was sentenced to nearly six years in prison Monday for distributing opioids that were shipped from China to the United States and eventually made their way to Ohio. Bin Wang, 43, a Chinese national, was sentenced to 71 months…
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Most of the deadly fentanyl being pumped into Ohio communities arrives from China via the U.S. Postal Service, a pathway that will soon be shut down thanks to a new federal law, says U.S. Sen. Rob Portman (R-OH). “The refrain I hear across Ohio about the opioid epidemic is clear: People…
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Republican candidate for U.S. Senate Jim Renacci issued a statement Wednesday saying he opposes Issue 1, a constitutional amendment that would significantly reduce criminal penalties for drug possession. Renacci (R-OH-16) has made solving Ohio’s opioid-addiction crisis a priority of his campaign for the U.S. Senate. He is running against two-term incumbent Sen.…
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by Steve Birr Authorities in Ohio are cracking down on drug dealers trafficking in the deadly synthetic opioid fentanyl with harsher legal penalties as synthetic overdose deaths continue rising. Republican Gov. John Kasich signed a bill Wednesday that reclassifies fentanyl from a Schedule II to a Schedule I substance and…
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by Steve Birr A new report reveals the deteriorating national opioid epidemic is hitting Tennessee particularly hard, killing three people across the state each day. Republican Gov. Bill Haslam created the Tennessee Commission on Pain and Addiction Medicine Education Jan. 24 to investigate the addiction crisis and develop new standards for…
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by Will Racke Two illegal aliens have been indicted on multiple counts of conspiracy and drug distribution for allegedly running a drug trafficking operation that led to the overdose deaths of at least two people in Tennessee, federal prosecutors announced Thursday. Juan Manuel Morales-Rodriguez, 39, and Juan Samudio-Castro —…
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by Steve Birr The recent death of an Ohio police chief was the result of a fentanyl overdose, an autopsy report released Friday by a local coroner determined. Authorities in Reynoldsburg, Ohio, found Kirkersville Police Chief James Hughes Jr. dead in the bathroom of his home on May 25, along with a plastic…
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The state of Tennessee is adding restrictions to opioid prescriptions and measures to track and punish unlawful distribution of the powerful pain medications. Gov. Bill Haslam signed two bills and issued an executive order last Friday to support TN Together, the latest effort to fight the opioid crisis, WBIR reported,…
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by Steve Birr Federal officials are charging 601 people, including more than 100 medical workers, for fueling opioid addiction in the largest bust of health care fraud in U.S. history. The Department of Justice revealed the charges Thursday, which were brought as part of an annual effort to dismantle…
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Rep. Scott DesJarlais (R-TN-04) released a statement this week geared to focusing attention on his work in support of both law enforcement and addiction treatment. “During a week in which the House of Representatives focused solely on solutions to the country’s opioid crisis, Congressman Scott DesJarlais, M.D., voted to improve…
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by Anders Hagstrom Washington, D.C., has the highest rate of drug use and addiction of any state in the country, according to a WalletHub study released Monday. Drug addiction has become an epidemic in the U.S., claiming the lives of more than 60,000 Americans in 2016 — more than…
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by Ethan Barton Admitted drug addicts and dealers were among the hundreds of thousands of people and businesses the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) licensed to manufacture, distribute or prescribe pharmaceuticals over the past 12 years, a Daily Caller News Foundation investigation has found. The agency stripped only 240 licenses…
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