opioid epidemic

Voters in Ohio will see one statewide issue on the ballot. Supporters have said this constitutional amendment will steer non-violent drug offenders away from prison and into treatment. But opponents claim it will dismantle the work Ohio has already done to curb the opioid epidemic. 

Opioid addiction continues to deplete Ohio’s communities and is driving up the number of children entering foster care. It’s been a year since the Ohio Attorney General’s office granted money for 30 Days to Family Ohio to address the issue.

30 Days to Family Ohio was created to move children from foster care to family care in the shortest time possible. In its second year, the program is looking for more funding and county involvement.

Today on All Sides, we check in on the initiative and scope of foster care in Ohio.

Last year, Ohio changed its rules for prescribing opioids, restricting amounts of, and circumstances under which, doctors can prescribe those narcotics. The new rules have an exemption for people who are in hospice type care for diseases like cancer. 

The Republican and Democratic candidates for governor met for their second face-to-face debate, this time taking questions from an audience and via social media at Marietta College.

The candidates were asked about energy, education, the environment and ECOT, the online charter school that closed earlier this year owing millions of dollars to the state for overinflating student attendance.

Susan Perez walks down Scott Street in Franklinton with a baby on her hip and two toddlers following close behind.

“It's a drug house right now,” she says gesturing at a boarded up house a few doors down from hers.

The Ohio Health Department puts the official death toll last year from accidential drug overdoses at 4,854 people. That’s more than 13 people a day, and a 20 percent increase over 2016. However Gov. John Kasich says there is good news in those numbers.

A recent analysis of state data shows opioid overdose deaths increased by another 20 percent from the previous year. Gov. John Kasich says the opioid crisis is a complex battle, being fought both inside and outside the state.

Right now, Heartland High School doesn’t look like much — just a few rooms on the second floor of Broad Street Presbyterian Church on Columbus’ East Side.

Gov. 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.