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Some State Leaders Voice Support For Proposed Federal Drug Policy Changes

Left to Right: State Rep. Ryan Smith (R), Attorney General Mike DeWine (R), State Rep. Robert Sprague (R)
Jo Ingles
Left to Right: State Rep. Ryan Smith (R), Attorney General Mike DeWine (R), State Rep. Robert Sprague (R)

The federal government is proposing new guidelines for prescribing opioids for chronic pain. Some state leaders are encouraging Ohioans to voice support for those changes now.Listen to the story here.

Attorney General Mike DeWine says it’s believed that three-quarters of heroin abusers in Ohio started off by using prescription pain meds.  That’s why he says new proposed guidelines for prescribing them need to be adopted.

“We are not going to arrest our way out of this problem.”

Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine
Credit Jo Ingles
Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine

DeWine and some state lawmakers are urging Ohioans to contact the federal Centers for Disease Control to voice support for a newly proposed policy that focuses on prescribing fewer does of opioids at a time and encourages more use of alternative ways to deal with pain. And he says he’s urging all law enforcement agencies to get and stock Narcan or naloxone, the drug that stops overdoses, for future emergency runs.

Copyright 2016 The Statehouse News Bureau

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.